THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 


COMMODORE  BYRON  MCCANDLESS 


ETHAN  ALLEN 

OF 
GREEN  MOUNTAIN  FAME. 


Kinney's   Heroic   Statue  of 
ETHAN  ALLEN 


ETHAN  ALLEN 

OF  GREEN    MOUNTAIN    FAME 
A    HERO    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

By  Charles  Walter  Brown,  A.M. 

Author  of  "Nathan  Hale,"  "John  Paul  Jones,"  "La  Fayette,"  "Paul 
Revere,"  "Pulaski,"  Etc.,  Etc. 


"The  cause  1  was  engaged  in.  I  ever  viewed  worthy 
hazarding  my  life  for,  nor  was  I,  in  the  most  critical 
moments  of  trouble,  sorry  that  I  engaged  in  it." 

— ETHAN  ALLEN. 


ILLUSTRATED 


CHICAGO 
M.  A.  DONOHUE    &   CO. 

407-429  DEARBORN  ST. 


Copyright  1902 
M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  Co. 
CHICAGO. 


THIS  VOLUME  Is  DEDICATED 

To 
MY  MOTHER. 


,       . 

*-/^     **-S-Jv^  *'    -"^-i- 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR: 

JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

OF  NAVAL  FAME 

12mo.  Cloth,  272  Pages.         Illustrated.         $1.00 


This  biography  of  a  patriot  by  Charles  Walter  Brown 
is  well  worthy  a  place  in  the  library  of  the  youth  of  our 
land.  .  .  .  It  is  simple  and  dignified  and  may  be  read 
by  old  and  young  with  interest.— The  Bookseller. 

Certainly  John  Paul  Jones  during  his  life  furnished 
enough  material  for  a  host  of  historians — and  it  has  been 
used  to  good  advantage  by  Mr.  Brown.  The  publication  is 
a  careful  and  commendable  one. — Chicago  Journal. 

"  You  have  done  your  work  well.  You  excel  in  the 
narrative.  I  wish  this  book  could  be  read  by  every  youth 
in  the  land.  All  your  books  are  read  with  interest  and 
profit  by  the  students  of  McKendree."— M.  H.  Chamberlin, 
LL.D.,  President  McKendree  College,  Lebanon,  111. 

Charles  Walter  Brown,  author  of  "  Nathan  Hale," 
"Paul  Revere,"  and  other  histories  of  noted  men  has 
brought  out  a  life  of  John  Paul  Jones.  The  book  deals 
principally  with  the  incidents  in  the  life  of  the  famous 
sailor  so  far  as  they  helped  to  make  the  naval  history  of 
the  United  States.  In  order,  however,  to  make  the  narra- 
tive complete,  Mr.  Brown  has  given  a  brief  account  of  the 
adventures  of  Paul  Jones  under  other  flags,  and  has  re- 
produced some  correspondence  passing  between  thedoughty 
sea  fighter  and  the  great  men  and  women  of  his  time. 
These  serve  to  thow  the  light  on  all  sides  of  his  character 
and  show  that  from  whatever  direction  he  was  approached 
his  love  of  liberty  stood  out  as  the  predominating  trait. — 
Chicago  Tribune. 


M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  CO. 

407-429  DEARBORN  ST.,  CHICAGO. 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter  Page 

Introduction  .         .         .         .      ...'..      9 

I.  Early  Life  of  Ethan  Allen       .         .        '.13 

II.  The  New  Hampshire  Grants  ...       17 

III.  Controversy  Concerning  Claims      .        .      33 

IV.  Reward  for  his  Apprehension          .         .      41 
V.  Defying  the  Authorities           .         .         .59 

VI.  Beginnings  of  the  Revolution           .         .      70 

VII.  The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  .         .      83 

VIII.  Carried  a  Prisoner  to  England         .        .     101 

IX.  Return  to  America          .        .        .        .     115 

X.  Scientific  Barbarity  of  Great  Britain      .     135 

XI.  Release  from  Captivity   .        .         .        .151 

XII.  A  Counter  Proclamation          .         .         .     175 

XIII.  Admission  of  Vermont  into  the  Union      .     199 

XIV.  Incidents,  Anecdotes,  Adventures    .         .211 
XV.  Character— Religious  Views — Death        .     22G 

XVI.  Correspondence,    State     Papers,    Docu- 
ments    .        .        .        .         .        .     243 

XVII.  The  Allen  Family           ....     265 


"  The  mountains  green  that  witnessed  first  his  fame, 
From  rocks  to  rocks  resounded  far  his  name. 
As  the  tough  horn  beam,  (peering  o'er  those  rocks) 
With  gnarled  grain  the  rising  thunder  mocks. 
Indignant  ALLEN,  manacled  in  vain, 
With  soul  revolting,  bit  the  British  chain." 

— HUMPHREYS. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

I.  Ethan  Allen         .          .         .          .     Frontispiece 

II.  Autograph  Letter  of  Ethan  Allen        .          .       32 

III.  General  George  Washington      ...       48 

IV.  George  the  Third,  King  of  England    .          .       64 
V.  Old  Fort  Ticonderoga      ....       80 

VI.  Capture  of  Captain  de  la  Place — Ticonderoga     96 

VII.  Map  of  Saratoga  and  Vicinity     .         .         .112 

VIII.  Major-General  Horatio  Gates    .         .         .128 

IX.  General  Benedict  Arnold          .         .         .     144 

X.  Reading  the  Declaration  of  Independence 

to  the  array        .         ...         .     160 

XI.  General  John  Burgoyne    .          '.                  .176 

XII.  Major  John  Andre          .            ...     192 

XIII.  General  Sir  Henry  Clinton       .          .          .     208 

XIV.  Admiral  John  Paul  Jones  .                    .     224 
XV.  General    Lord    Cornwallis         .        ..          .     240 

XVI.  Ira  Allen                                                              272 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  American  Revolution  called  forth  the  latent  ener- 
gies of  many  individuals  who,  in  a  more  peaceable  state  of 
political  affairs,  would  have  slumbered  in  obscurity  and 
gone  down  to  the  grave  unhonored  and  unknown.  The 
very  nature  of  the  policy  of  Great  Britain  toward  the 
Colonies — a  policy  every  way  tyrannical  and  oppressive — 
was  calculated  to  call  into  action  the  efforts  of  every  friend 
of  liberty.  It  was  an  attempt  to  strip  the  people  of  their 
rights  and  manacle  them  with  the  fetters  of  slavery; 
but,  thanks  to  the  spirit  which  prevailed  among  our 
fathers — thanks  to  the  patriotism  which  then  warmed 
the  hearts  of  the  people — the  mercenaries  of  a  foreign 
power  were  unequal  to  the  task  of  accomplishing  the 
designs  of  their  masters. 

True-hearted  volunteers  rallied  to  the  calls  of  the 
brave  and  wise  men  of  our  country — Washington,  Adams, 
Jefferson,  Franklin,  Lee,  Patrick  Henry — all  imbued 
with  a  spirit  worthy  of  the  little  band  of  Greeks  which 
defended  the  pass  of  Thermopylae  and  their  national 
liberty.  They  fought  and  conquered,  these  doughty 
sons  of  Columbia,  and  their  declining  years  were  cheered 
with  the  knowledge  that  the  country  for  which  they  had 
struggled  so  long  and  at  such  fearful  sacrifices,  was  now 
free  and  her  people  prosperous  and  happy.  That  their 
deeds  of  heroism,  privation  and  sufferings  were  gratefully 


10  Introduction. 

remembered  by  those  who  profited  most  in  that  hour  of 
supreme  national  rejoicing,  is  best  shown  in  the  firm, 
unyielding  spirit  in  which  they  flung  defiance  back  upon 
the  enemy  in  the  immortal  utterances  of  July  4,  1776. 

Perhaps  no  individual  of  equal  advantages,  and  in 
the  station  he  occupied,  contributed  more  toward  estab- 
lishing the  independence  of  our  country  than  Ethan 
Allen,  of  Vermont,  unless  it  be  the  single  exception 
of  John  Paul  Jones.  The  mass  of  people  among  whom 
Allen  resided  were  rude  and  uncultured,  yet  bold  in 
spirit  and  insanely  zealous  in  action.  It  consequently 
follows  that  no  one  but  a  man  of  strong,  natural  endow- 
ments— of  much  decision,  energy  and  bravery — could 
control  their  prejudices  and  inclinations.  Habit  had 
rendered  them  familiar  with  danger  and  impatient  of 
restraint;  hence  it  followed  that  no  policy,  unless  pro- 
ceeding from  a  source  in  which  they  had  confidence,  ever 
gained  their  approbation. 

Upon  Ethan  Allen  whose  courage  was  undoubted, 
and  whose  zealous  devotion  to  their  interests  was  uni- 
versally acknowledged,  they  implicitly  relied.  They  had 
known  him  in  adversity  and  in  prosperity;  they  had 
weighed  him  and  found  nothing  lacking.  To  friend  or 
foe,  he  was  ever  the  same  unyielding  advocate  of  the  rights 
of  man  and  universal  liberty,  unconditionally  and  without 
reserve.  Therefore  the  policy  he  upheld  as  beneficial 
to  the  common  cause  of  American  liberty,  ever  found 
strong  and  sufficient  supporters  among  the  friends  with 
whom  he  associated  and  by  whom  he  was  best  known. 
We  see  the  same  spirit  manifested  to  a  marked  degree  in 


Introduction.  11 

action  as  well  as  in  all  of  the  public  utterances  of  Paul 
Jones,  and  it  is  even  more  manifest  in  the  dying  thoughts 
of  Nathan  Hale,  who  exclaimed,  even  with  the  noose 
about  his  neck:  "If  I  had  ten  thousand  lives  I  would 
lay  them  down  one  at  a  time  for  my  injured,  bleeding 
country." 

From  the  commencement  of  our  revolutionary  strug- 
gle for  liberty  until  victory  crowned  their  efforts,  Ethan 
Allen  proved  an  ardent  and  strenuous  supporter  of  the 
Cause.  Whether  in  the  field  or  council — whether  at 
home,  a  freeman  among  the  green  hills  of  Vermont,  or 
loaded  with  the  manacles  of  despotism  in  a  foreign  coun- 
try, his  spirit  never  quailed  beneath  the  sneer  of  the 
Tory,  or  the  harsh  threats  of  insolent  authority.  A 
stranger  to  fear,  his  opinions  were  ever  given  without 
disguise  or  hesitation;  and,  as  an  enemy  to  oppression, 
he  sought  every  opportunity  to  redress  the  wrongs  of 
the  oppressed.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that 
he  was  faultless.  Like  other  men  he  had  his  faults — 
sins;  like  other  men,  he  had  his  foibles — his  weak- 
nesses; yet  he  was  not  willfully  stubborn.  When  con- 
vinced of  an  erroneous  position,  he  was  ever  willing  to 
yield;  but  in  theory,  as  in  practice,  he  contested  every 
inch  of  the  ground  and  only  yielded  when  inadequately 
supported  or  when  he  had  no  weapons  left  to  meet  his 
adversary.  This  trait  in  his  character  serves  at  least 
to  prove  that  he  was  honest  in  his  conclusions  however 
erroneous  the  premises  from  which  they  were  deduced. 
Ethan  Allen  was  ever  the  zealous  friend  of  the  section 
in  which  he  resided.  He  was  ever  the  champion  of  the 


12  Introduction. 

humble  citizen  contending  for  the  rights  of  individual 
property  and  human  justice.  In  these  offices  of  friendship 
and  duty  he  had  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  neigh- 
bors. He  had  evinced  a  spirit  of  patriotism  and  a  love 
of  freedom  which  warmly  recommended  him  to  the 
notice  and  the  admiration  of  the  most  determined  and 
able  advocates  of  American  liberty.  That  he  should 
have  been  selected  as  a  leader  in  an  enterprise  of  the 
highest  moment  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  was  alike  due 
to  his  principles,  his  services,  his  position,  and  to  a  con- 
stitution more  rugged  than  any  of  his  compatriots  of  the 
plains  and  malaria-infested  inlets  of  the  South. 

Fortunately,  Colonel  Allen  took  the  precaution  to 
furnish  abundant  material  out  of  which  an  innumerable 
number  of  memoirs  or  biographical  sketches  could  be 
evolved,  and  succeeding  generations  have  the  assurance 
that  few  writers  who  have  attempted  to  portray  the 
character  of  this  eccentric  mountaineer  have  dared  to 
wander  far  from  this  hero's  estimate  of  his  own  services 
or  the  part  he  played  in  defense  of  his  country's  liberty. 
No  excuse  is  offered  in  the  present  instance  for  a  liberal 
extraction  from  so  authentic  a  source,  for  the  author 
believes  a  biographical  work  is  materially  strengthened 
by  permitting  the  subject  of  his  sketch  to  add  a  line  here 
and  there,thus  giving  color  as  well  as  realism  to  the  whole. 
The  memory  of  so  eminent,  so  unselfish,  so  devoted  a 
patriot  and  defender  of  his  country's  flag  as  Colonel 
Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  fame  should  be  held 
in  veneration  by  every  American. 


ETHAN  ALLEN 

OF  " 

GREEN    MOUNTAIN     FAME. 


CHAPTER  I. 
/ 

EARLY   LIFE    OF   ETHAN   ALLEN. 

Little  is  known  of  the  early  life  of  Ethan  Allen  of 
Green  Mountain  fame — the  hero  of  Ticonderoga.  His 
father,  Joseph  Allen,  was  a  native  of  Coventry,  Tolland 
County,  Connecticut,  where  the  family  had  resided 
many  years.  It  is  indeed  a  singular  coincidence  that 
so  small  a  village  as  Coventry,  with  scarcely  a  score  of 
dwellings,  should  also  have  been  the  birthplace  of  Cap- 
tain Nathan  Hale,  the  martyr  spy,  as  well  as  other  mem- 
bers of  these  two  illustrious  families  which  the  Revo- 
lution called  from  obscurity  to  imperishable  fame. 

Joseph  Allen  was  a  sober,  industrious  farmer,  of  kind 
and  generous  character.  He  was  ready  at  all  times  to 
give  liberally  of  his  sustenance,  which  though  not  great 
was  ample  for  his  small  but  increasing  family.  After 
his  marriage  in  1736  to  Mary  Baker,  the  daughter  of 
another  Tolland  County  patriot,  Allen  removed  to  Litch- 
field,  the  county  seat  of  a  large  and  prosperous  county 
of  the  same  name,  some  hundred  or  more  miles  distant 
from  his  native  village.  He  had  bargained  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  large  farm  near  Litchfield,  but  not  finding 

18 


14      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

things  to  his  liking,  Allen  with  his  young  wife  took  up 
their  abode  on  a  smaller  farm  a  short  distance  from  town. 
It  was  here  on  the  tenth  of  January,  1737,  that  their 
first  child  was  born,  and  they  named  him  Ethan  after 
his  paternal  great  grandfather. 

Shortly  after  the  birth  of  Ethan  the  family  again 
moved  farther  west,  settling  near  Cornwall  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Housatonic  river,  not  far  from  the  present 
village  of  Ellsworth.  Here  other  children  were  born, 
eight  in  all.  Ethan,  being  the  oldest,  was  followed  in 
the  order  named  by  Heman,  Lydia,  Heber,  Levi,  Lucy, 
Zimri  and  Ira.  All  grew  to  maturity,  for  they  were 
nature's  children  and  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  been 
born  where  grass  and  flowers  and  trees  grow  untended; 
where  waters  gush  from  nature's  own  fountains  and 
where  the  air  is  not  polluted  with  gas  from  sewers 
and  smoke  from  factory,  mill  and  shop.  The  girls,  mar- 
rying early,  remained  near  the  old  homestead,  while  the 
boys,  influenced  by  their  elder  brother  Ethan,  emi- 
grated northward  and  settled  in  the  hills  west  of  the 
Green  Mountains,  then  a  wilderness  in  southern  Vermont. 
They  were  as  bold  and  fearless  a  lot  of  patriots  as  were 
those  intrepid  scouts  of  the  plains — Custer,  Cody,  Boone, 
Carson,  Crocket  and  others  whose  names  are  synonyms 
for  bold  and  enterprising  deeds. 

About  the  year  1772  or  73  Ethan  Allen,  then  about 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  moved  to  Bennington,  a  small 
but  promising  village  in  southwestern  Vermont.  Here 
he  married  his  first  wife  who  did  not  long  survive.  His 
second  wife,  after  the  death  of  Allen,  married  a  Doctor 


Early  Life  of  Ethan  Allen.  15 

Penniman,    a   physician   of   prominence    at    Colchester, 
in  upper  Vermont. 

Ethan's  education,  like  that  of  a  great  majority  of 
the  people  of  that  period  and  locality,  was  quite  limited 
owing  to  the  fact  that  few  schools  were  then  in  operation 
and  books  were  neither  as  plentiful  nor  as  easy  to  pro- 
cure as  they  are  today  even  in  localities  farther  removed 
from  commercial  centers  than  was  Vermont  when  Boston 
and  New  York  were  without  railroads,  telegraphs  or 
telephones.  The  necessity  of  a  thorough  education 
was  not  deemed  as  essential  to  a  successful  career  then 
as  it  is  today.  More  attention  was  given  to  the  moral 
welfare  of  a  sturdy  manhood  and  womanhood  than  to 
the  acquirements  and  spread  of  scientific  information 
which  is  of  little  value  unless  applied  for  the  betterment 
of  the  race.  Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  under 
which  these  sturdy  pioneers  labored,  a  vast  fund  of  prac- 
tical knowledge  was  possessed  by  the  majority  of  settlers; 
knowing  nothing  of  the  ways  of  Dartmouth,  Harvard 
or  Yale — then  in  their  prime  —  Ethan  Allen  possessed 
an  abundance  of  rare  common  sense;  he  was  a  self-made 
man — a  born  leader  of  men.  He  was  enterprising;  he 
was  ambitious;  he  sought  fame — notoriety,  and  like 
Paul  Jones,  Lafayette  and  Casimir  Pulaski,  he  early 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  Colonies  as  the  surest  means 
of  obtaining  recognition  for  himself  and  freedom  for 
the  oppressed  from  all  lands.  He  was  endowed  with 
rare  observing  faculties,  which,  on  the  clear  and  supe- 
rior mind  that  he  possessed,  led  him  to  explore  every 
avenue  that  led  toward  his  cherished  goal. 


16      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

A  warm  attachment  to  liberty,  freedom,  independ- 
ence— component  parts  of  the  elements,  which,  entering 
into  the  physical  man  and  manifesting  its  assimilation 
in  a  frenzy,  took  on  the  aspect  of  a  religion;  the  longing 
for  these  led  Allen  to  freely  and  boldly  express  his  con- 
tempt for  the  oppressive  policy  manifested  by  Great 
Britain  toward  her  Colonies  in  America.  "Ever  since 
I  arrived  at  the  state  of  manhood,  and  acquainted  my- 
self with  the  general  history  of  mankind,  I  have  felt  a  sin- 
cere passion  for  liberty.  The  history  of  nations,  doomed 
to  perpetual  slavery,  in  consequence  of  yielding  up  to 
tyrants  their  natural  born  liberties,  I  read  with  a  sort 
of  philosophical  horror." 

To  such  sentiments  as  these,  is  to  be  attributed  the 
zeal  with  which  he  sought  on  every  occasion  to  instill 
into  the  minds  of  his  associates  an  aversion  for  the  polit- 
ical power  by  which  the  Colonies  were  controlled,  and 
the  people  held  in  thraldom.  Convinced  that  man  was 
designed  by  nature  to  be  the  arbiter  of  his  own  actions, 
and  that  he  was  fitted  to  act  for  himself  in  matters  con- 
cerning the  affairs  of  the  country  in  which  he  lived,  he 
entertained,  as  he  uniquely  observes,  a  "philosophical 
horror"  of  every  species  of  tyranny  and  oppression. 
It  is  not  singular,  therefore,  that  the  friends  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution  found  in  him  an  efficient  leader  ready 
for  any  emergency  and  any  danger,  and  that  wherever 
any  evils  existed  affecting  the  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity in  which  he  lived,  he  was  the  first  to  apply  the  lan- 
guage of  persuasion  or  the  rod  of  correction. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   NEW   HAMPSHIRE    GRANTS. 

We  hear  little  of  Ethan  Allen  until  we  find  him  a 
resident  in  the  New  Hampshire  Grants — now  the  State 
of  Vermont.  At  the  period  of  his  removal  to  this  terri- 
tory, a  controversy  was  pending  between  the  authorities 
of  New  York  and  the  settlers  in  relation  to  the  validity 
of  the  original  titles  to  their  lands  and  other  matters 
connected  with  their  rights  and  property.  The  first  set- 
tlements were  made  under  grants  from  the  Provincial 
Government  of  Massachusetts,  but  in  the  year  1740,  by 
a  recommendation  of  King  George  II.,  the  father  and 
immediate  predecessor  of  George  the  Third,  through 
whose  insane  belief  in  the  divine  right  of  kings  the  Amer- 
ican colonies  were  lost  to  Great  Britain,  the  territory 
was  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  New  Hampshire. 
A  correspondence,  however,  was  opened  between  the 
Governors  of  New  Hampshire  and  New  York  in  which 
the  governor  of  the  latter  commonwealth  claimed  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  over  the  territory.  Notwithstanding 
this  claim,  the  New  Hampshire  governor  proceeded  to 
make  further  grants,  and  by  advice  of  his  Council  in  the 
year  1760,  ordered  a  survey  of  all  lands  lying  on  both 
sides  of  the  Connecticut  river  for  sixty  miles  above  the 
former  survey  made  by  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony. 

The   applications   for  lands   being  numerous,   other 

17 


18      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

surveys  rapidly  followed,  and  during  the  year  1761  about 
sixty  townships  were  apportioned  among  the  settlers. 
In  return  for  these,  the  Governor  was  liberally  paid  by 
the  settlers,  receiving  besides  fees  allowed  by  law,  a  res- 
ervation of  five  hundred  acres  in  each  township  for  him- 
self. This  state  of  affairs  excited  the  jealousies  of  the 
New  York  authorities,  who  determined  if  possible  to 
check  the  operations  of  the  Governor  of  New  Hampshire. 
In  view  of  this  result  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New 
York  issued  a  proclamation  in  which  he  referred  to  the 
grants  made  by  Charles  II.  to  the  Duke  of  York  in  1664, 
which  embraced  "all  the  lands  from  the  west  side  of  the 
Connecticut  river,  on  the  east  side  of  Delaware  Bay  to 
the  most  northerly  parts  below  the  St.  Lawrence." 

Relying  upon  this  title  to  the  territory,  he  ordered 
the  Sheriff  of  Albany  County,  New  York,  to  furnish  him 
with  the  names  of  all  persons  occupying  lands  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Connecticut  river  under  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants.  In  answer  to  this  proclamation  the  Gov- 
ernor of  New  Hampshire  issued  a  counter  one  in  which 
the  grant  to  the  Duke  of  York  was  declared  obsolete. 
The  settlers  were  urged  to  be  diligent  and  industrious, 
and  not  to  fear  the  threats  of  the  New  York  authorities. 
In  this  state  of  things,  application  was  made  by  the  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  William  Tryon,  directly  to  the 
Crown,  for  a  confirmation  of  New  York's  claims;  and 
in  consequence  of  this  application,  the  king  ordered 
that  the  "Western  bank  of  the  Connecticut  river  from 
where  it  enters  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  as 
far  north  as  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude,  be 
the  boundary  line  between  the  said  provinces  of  New 


The  New  Hampshire  Grants.  19 

Hampshire  and  Vermont."  This  decision  surprised  and 
irritated  the  settlers  on  the  grants,  yet  it  produced  no 
serious  alarm.  It  was  merely  regarded  as  extending  the 
jurisdiction  of  New  York  over  the  territory  without 
affecting  in  any  manner  their  title  to  the  lands  upon 
which  they  had  settled,  for  they  had  paid  for  them  and 
obtained  deeds  to  the  same  under  the  Crown.  The  Gov- 
ernor of  New  Hampshire  at  first  remonstrated  against 
the  decision  of  the  king  in  relation  to  extending  the  juris- 
diction of  New  York,  but  finally  submitted  to  the  change 
and  issued  a  Proclamation  to  that  effect. 

The  Governor  of  New  York,  immediately  after  the 
decision  of  the  Crown,  proceeded  to  extend  his  jurisdiction 
over  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  dividing  the  territory 
into  four  counties  and  establishing  courts  of  justice  in 
each.  The  settlers  were  imperatively  commanded  to 
surrender  their  charters  and  repurchase  their  lands  under 
grants  from  New  York.  A  few  complied  with  this  order, 
but  a  large  majority  peremptorily  refused.  The  lands 
of  the  latter  were  granted  to  others  in  whose  names  writs 
of  ejectment  were  issued  and  judgments  obtained  in  the 
New  York  courts.  A  determined  resistance  was  made 
by  the  settlers  against  these  unjust  and  arbitrary  meas- 
ures, and  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  the  resistance 
more  effectual,  a  number  of  associations  of  the  people 
were  formed  and  a  convention  finally  called  composed 
of  representatives  from  the  different  towns  of  the  Green 
Mountain  district.  After  much  deliberation  the  con- 
vention appointed  Samuel  Robinson  agent  to  go  to  London 
and  represent  to  the  king  the  grievances  suffered  by  the 
settlers  and  to  obtain  a  confirmation  of  the  New  Hamp- 


20      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

shire  grants.  The  report  of  the  agent  was  favorably 
received  by  the  king:  "His  Majesty  was  pleased  with 
the  advice  of  his  Private  Council,  to  approve  thereof, 
and  doth  hereby  strictly  charge,  require  and  command, 
that  the  Governor  or  Commander-in-chief  of  His  Majes- 
ty's Province  of  New  York,  for  the  time  being,  do  not, 
upon  His  Majesty's  highest  displeasure,  presume  to  make 
any  grant,  whatsoever,  of  any  part  of  the  lands  described 
in  the  said  report,  until  His  Majesty's  further  pleasure 
shall  be  known,  concerning  the  same." 

This  explicit  prohibition  of  the  king,  however,  was 
of  little  or  no  avail.  The  Governor  of  New  York  con- 
tinued to  make  grants,  and  writs  of  ejectment  were  issued 
as  formerly.  Thus,  compelled  to  resort  to  more  effective 
measures  than  mere  argument,  the  people  assembled  in 
convention  at  Bennington  and  "Resolved  to  support 
their  rights  and  property  under  the  New  Hampshire 
Grants,  against  the  usurpation  and  unjust  claims  of  the 
Governor  and  Council  of  New  York  by  force,  as  law  and 
justice  were  denied  them." 

The  adoption  of  this  resolution  was  followed  by  a 
resolute  and  spirited  resistance  to  the  Civil  officers  of 
New  York.  Many  of  them  were  siezed  by  the  people 
and  severely  "chastised  with  twigs  of  the  wilderness." 
A  military  association  was  also  formed  of  which  Ethan 
Allen  was  appointed  Colonel-Commandant  and  Seth 
Warner,  Remember  Baker,  Robert  Cochran,  Gideon 
Warner  and  others  were  appointed  Captains.  Commit- 
tees of  safety  were  likewise  appointed  in  several  towns 
west  of  the  Green  Mountains. 

The  authorities  of  New  York  directed  the  Sheriff  of 


The  New  Hampshire  Grants.  21 

Albany  County  to  raise  a  posse  comitatus  to  assist  in  the 
execution  of  his  office  and  a  proclamation  was  issued  by 
the  Governor  of  New  York  offering  a  reward  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  ($750)  for  the  apprehension  of 
Ethan  Allen,  and  fifty  pounds  ($250)  each  for  the 
apprehension  of  Seth  Warner,  and  five  others  named  in 
the  writ.  Allen  and  the  other  proscribed  persons,  in 
turn,  issued  a  Proclamation  offering  five  pounds  ($25) 
for  apprehending  and  delivering  to  any  officer  of  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  the  Attorney-General  of  the  Colony 
of  New  York. 

At  this  crisis  of  the  controversy,  Governor  Tryon  of 
New  York  addressed  a  communication  "To  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Dewey  [an  ancestor  of  Admiral  George  Dewey]  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Bennington  and  the  adjacent  country  on 
the  east  side  of  Hudson's  River,"  in  which  he  unequivo- 
cally pointed  out  what  he  termed  the  "illegal  acts"  com- 
mitted by  the  settlers  against  the  authority  of  New 
York.  He  also  extended  an  invitation  to  Mr.  Dewey 
to  lay  before  the  government  the  causes  of  the  proceed- 
ings. "That  there  may  be  no  obstruction  to  your  laying 
before  me,  in  Council,  as  soon  as  possible,  a  fair  repre- 
sentation of  your  conduct,  I  do  hereby  engage  full  security 
and  protection  to  all  persons  whom  you  shall  choose  to 
send  on  this  business,  to  New  York,  from  the  time  they 
leave  their  homes  to  the  time  of  their  return,  except 
Robert  Cochran,  as  also  Ethan  Allen,  Remember  Baker, 
and  William  Sevil,  mentioned  in  my  Proclamation  of  the 
9th  of  December  last,  and  Seth  Warner,  whose  audacious 
behavior  to  a  Civil  Magistrate,  has  subjected  him  to  the 
penalties  of  the  laws  of  his  country."  To  this  commu- 


22      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

nication  a  respectful  but  firm  answer  was  returned,  detail- 
ing the  oppressions  under  which  the  settlers  suffered,  and 
beseeching  his  Excellency  to  be  friendly  disposed  towards 
them  and  lend  his  assistance  to  quiet  them  in  their  pos- 
sessions "until  his  Majesty,  in  his  royal  wisdom,  should 
be  graciously  pleased  to  settle  the  controversy."  In 
addition  to  this  reply,  the  following  special  communi- 
cation was  made  to  the  Governor  at  the  same  time : 

BENNINGTON,  June  5,  1772. 
To  His  EXCELLENCY,  WILLIAM  TRYON,  ESQ.,  ETC. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency — We,  his  Majesty's 
loyal  subjects,  whose  names  are  to  this  piece  affixed, 
inhabitants  on  that  tract  of  land  your  Excellency  de- 
scribes by  the  name  of  Bennington,  and  the  adjacent 
country,  etc.,  and  who  were,  by  your  Excellency's 
letter  of  the  19th  of  May  last,  prohibited  the  privilege 
of  going  to  New  York,  and  personally  vindicate  either 
ourselves  or  country,  before  your  Excellency,  and  being 
put  to  the  extremity  of  informing  your  Excellency  by 
writing  the  reason  of  our  discontent,  and  also  of  our  be- 
havior, which  we  shall  more  largely  set  forth,  than  is  in 
the  foregoing  general  answer  to  your  Excellency's  letter; 
and  also  exhibit  more  arguments  deduced  from  reason 
and  the  nature  of  things;  we  hope  your  Excellency  will 
be  graciously  pleased  to  view  this  our  defence  with  that 
tenderness  and  candor,  a  gentleman  in  so  elevated  a 
station  should  do,  and,  therefore,  beg  leave  to  observe, 
that,  as,  on  the  one  hand,  no  consideration  whatever, 
shall  induce  us  to  remit,  in  the  least,  of  our  loyalty  and 
gratitude  to  our  most  gracious  Sovereign,  nor  of  a  rea- 
sonable subjection  to  your  Excellency;  so  on  the  other 


The  New  Hampshire  Grants.  23 

hand,  no  tyrannical  exertions  of  the  powers  of  the  gov- 
ernment can  deter  us  from  asserting  and  vindicating 
our  undoubted  rights  and  privileges  as  Englishmen.  We 
expected  an  answer  from  your  Excellency,  to  our  humble 
petition  to  you  delivered,  soon  after  your  Excellency's 
accession  to  the  administration  of  the  government; 
but  for  reasons  to  us  unknown,  your  Excellency  passed 
it  by  in  silence.  However,  we  cheerfully  embrace  this 
opportunity  of  laying  before  your  Excellency  in  Council 
the  true  state  of  our  controversy,  which,  we  can  no  other- 
wise do  but  by  absorbing  our  personal  distinction  into 
the  community,  and  general  cause,  to  which  we  have 
obtained  the  character  of  faithful.  We  assure  your  Excel- 
lency that  we  assent  to  your  authority  of  jurisdiction, 
inasmuch  as  his  Majesty's  Proclamation  assures  us, 
it  is  his  will  and  pleasure,  we  be  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  New  York;  and  not  only  now  assent  to  it,  but  have 
ever  done  the  same,  except  in  instances  where  such  per- 
verse use  has  been  made  thereof  as  would  dispossess 
us  of  our  property  and  country.  We  are  truly  desirous 
of  petitioning  his  Majesty  to  re-annex  us  to  the  Province 
of  New  Hampshire.  But  this  is  not  the  ground  of  our 
discontent,  or  at  least,  is  far  from  being  the  principal 
ground  for  it,  though  it  was  done  ex  parte,  and  we  appre- 
hend there  were  more  or  less  wrong  representations  'made 
to  his  Majesty,  to  obtain  the  jurisdiction.  However, 
it  is  the  unreasonable  and  unconstitutional  exercise  of 
it,  that  is  the  present  bone  of  contention — our  properties 
are  all  at  stake;  this  we  contend  for,  as  the  following 
known  facts  will  demonstrate:  A  certain  number  of  de- 
signing men  in  New  York  (and  elsewhere)  procured  pat- 


24      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

ents  under  the  great  seal  of  that  Province,  and  those 
grantees,  being  non-residents,  brought  writs  of  ejectment 
against  the  New  Hampshire  settlers  on  the  same  land, 
covered  by  both  patents,  as  aforesaid,  and  obtained  judg- 
ment against  them,  and  proceeded  further  and  took  out 
writs  of  possession,  and  actually  dispossessed  several  of 
them  by  order  of  Law  of  their  houses  and  farms,  leaving 
them  to  suffer  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  bereaved 
of  all  the  necessaries  of  life,  their  new  masters  having 
monopolized  their  earthly  all  to  themselves.  These  indi- 
gent families,  having  in  the  first  place  expended  their 
several  fortunes,  in  bringing  their  farms  out  of  a  wilder- 
ness state,  into  that  of  fruitful  fields,  gardens  and  orchards, 
the  whole  country  consisting  of  more  than  fifteen  hun- 
dred families,  was  greatly  alarmed  at  the  event  which 
had  already  begun  to  take  place,  and  in  the  greatest 
consternation;  each  individual,  from  these  instances, 
reading  their  own  intolerable  and  universal  destruction. 
Still  the  writs  of  ejectment  came  thicker  and  faster,  and 
universal  slavery,  poverty  and  horror,  emblematically 
appeared  in  every  countenance. 

Thus,  things  having  come  to  this  pass,  the  oppression 
was  too  great  for  human  nature,  under  English  Consti- 
tution, to  grope  under,  for  those  unparalleled  instances 
struck  an  infinitely  more  terrible  idea,  than  that  of  the 
exertion  of  the  Powers  of  Government. 

Law  and  society  compacts  were  made  to  protect  and 
secure  the  subjects  in  their  peaceable  possessions  and 
properties,  and  not  to  subvert  them.  No  person  or  com- 
munity of  persons  can  be  supposed  to  be  under  any  par- 
ticular compact  of  Law,  except  it  presupposeth,  that  that 


The  New  Hampshire  Grants.  25 

Law  will  protect  such  persons  or  community  of  persons 
in  his  or  their  properties;  for  otherwise,  the  subject 
would,  by  Law,  be  bound  to  be  accessory  to  his  own 
ruin  and  destruction,  which  is  inconsistent  with  the 
Law  of  self-preservation;  but  this  Law,  being  natural  as 
well  as  eternal,  can  never  be  abrogated  by  the  Law  of 
men. 

We  would  acquaint  your  Excellency,  that  since  our 
misfortune  in  being  annexed  to  the  Province  of  New 
York,  law  has  been  rather  used  as  a  tool  than  a  rule  of 
equity,  to  cheat  us  out  of  the  country  we  have  made 
vastly  valuable  by  labor  and  expense  of  our  fortunes. 
We  conclude  these  things  are  yet  unknown,  or  in  a  great 
measure  so  to  your  Excellency,  as  your  Excellency's  com- 
mencement of  the  administration,  hath  not  been  long, 
and  a  set  of  artful,  wicked  men,  concealing  the  truth  from 
your  Excellency,  purposing  to  make  a  booty  of  us,  char- 
acterizing us  (speaking  of  our  inhabitants  in  general)  as 
so  many  rioters,  if  not  rebels ;  and  we  being  a  poor  people, 
at  a  great  distance  from  your  Excellency's  place  of  resi- 
dence, fatigued  in  settling  a  wilderness  country,  have 
little  or  no  opportunity  of  acquainting  your  Excellency 
of  our  grievances,  except  by  one  short  petition  delivered 
to  your  Excellency,  soon  after  your  first  taking  the  admin- 
istration— and  as  our  cause  is  represented  before  his 
Majesty  and  Council,  we  did  not  expect  your  Excellency 
to  determine  the  controversy,  nor  do  we  yet  expect  it. 
We  are  sensible  those  men  that  seek  our  ruin,  thereby,  to 
enrich  themselves,  do,  by  stratagems  of  every  kind,  rep- 
resent us  to  your  Excellency  as  breakers  of  the  peace, 
and  enemies  to  the  government ;  and  under  this  pretense, 


26      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

they  hope  to  catch  a  number  of  the  boldest  of  our  inhab- 
itants, and  punish  them  in  the  New  York  Inquisition, 
with  that  severity  that  the  residue  may  be  frightened 
out  of  both  liberty  and  property;  for  otherwise,  they 
would  soon  be  indicted  rioters,  and  thus,  under  color  of 
punishing  rioters,  and  a  zeal  of  loyalty  and  veneration 
for  good  government,  rob  the  inhabitants  of  their  coun- 
try.'  If  we  do  not  oppose  the  Sheriff  and  his  Posse,  he 
takes  immediate  possession  of  our  houses  and  farms;  if 
we  do,  we  are  immediately  indicted  rioters;  and  when 
others  oppose  officers  in  taking  such,  their  friends,  so 
indicted,  they  are  also  indicted  and  so  on,  there  being 
no  end  of  indictments  against  us,  so  long  as  we  act  the 
bold  and  manly  part,  and  stand  by  our  liberty. 

This  is  a  short  sketch  of  the  disingenuous  cunning 
of  Messieurs  Duane  and  Kemp,  and  their  associates;  and 
it  comes  to  this,  at  last,  that  we  must  tamely  be  dispos- 
sessed, or  oppose  officers  in  taking  possession;  and  as  a 
next  necessary  step,  oppose  taking  of  rioters,  so  called, 
or  run  away  like  so  many  cowards,  and  quit  the  country 
to  a  number  of  cringing,  polite  gentlemen,  who  have, 
ideally,  possessed  themselves  of  it  already. 

As  to  sundry  men,  who  have  eloped  lately  from  our 
grants,  and  fled  to  New  York  for  protection,  self-pres- 
ervation necessitated  us  to  treat  some  of  them  roughly; 
and  others,  viz.,  Ebenezer  Cowl,  and  Jonathan  Wheat, 
of  Shaftesbury,  fled  to  New  York,  on  account  of  their  own 
guilt,  not  being  hurt  or  threatened.  Would  time  permit, 
we  could  give  a  rational  account  for  most,  or  all  of  our 
late  conduct  towards  these  men.  The  general  reason  is 
this,  namely,  they  were  a  set  of  men  that  loved  them- 


The  New  Hampshire  Grants.  27 

selves,  and  not  their  country;  they  busied  themselves 
in  planning  and  assisting  to  take  rioters,  so  called.  In 
fine,  they  were  the  emissaries  of  that  mercenary  corps  of 
Yorkers,  and  did  more,  in  oppressing  the  people,  than 
their  preposterous  benefactors. 

The  assault,  made  upon  Mr.  Baker,  at  daybreak,  of 
the  night  of  the  22d  of  March  last,  by  a  number  of 
ruffians,  under  the  command  of  the  infamous  John  Munro, 
Esq.,  was  a  notorious  riot,  and  gave  energy  and  motion, 
to  the  subsequent  acts,  your  Excellency  denominates 
illegal.  This  Munro,  and  his  bloody  party,  by  cutting, 
wounding  and  maiming,  Mr.  Baker,  his  wife  -and  children, 
in  such  an  inhuman  and  savage  manner,  was  no  less  than 
proclaiming  himself  in  a  public  manner,  to  be  a  malicious 
and  bloody  enemy,  not  only  to  Mr.  Baker,  but  also  to 
all  those  men  on  our  grants  who  manfully  adhere  to 
maintaining  liberty  and  property;  and  inasmuch  as  the 
murderous  villain  is  alive,  he  has  no  cause  of  complaint — 
for,  after  his  assault  upon  Mr.  Baker,  he  made  another 
assault  upon  Mr.  Seth  Warner;  but  not  having  so  strong 
a  party  of  ruffians  with  him,  as  in  his  other  expedition, 
it  was  riot  attended  with  the  like  consequences,  for  Mr. 
Warner  struck  his  head  with  a  cutlass,  and  leveled  him 
to  the  ground;  but  the  blow  proved  not  mortal;  and 
after  this,  for  his  satisfaction  for  the  wound,  threatened 
the  lives  of  a  number  of  New  Hampshire  settlers.  Your 
Excellency  will  undoubtedly  consider,  as  our  opponents 
have  had  the  manufactory  of  the  civil  laws  so  much 
under  their  power,  that  this  merciless  man  could  not  be 
brought  to  justice,  nor  could  others  among  us  be  safe 
any  other  way,  but  by  using  him  in  his  own  play;  he  set 


28      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

the  example  and  enraged  the  people  to  mimic  him  from 
that  natural  principle  in  every  man's  own  breast. 

As  to  the  perfidious  and  treacherous  Bliss  Willoughby, 
he  always  pretended  to  be  a  friend  of  the  said  Baker's, 
and  Baker  had  ever  been  truly  a  friend  of  his — this  hypo- 
crite, two  days  before  Baker  was  taken,  made  a  frivolous 
excuse  of  business,  went  to  said  Baker's  house,  viewed 
the  strength  of  it,  perceived  Baker  was  somewhat  care- 
less and  secure,  and  made  report  to  the  said  Munro.  In 
fine,  Willoughby  was  the  planner  and  instigator  of  that 
savage  cruelty,  exercised  to  said  Baker,  which  was  per- 
petrated and  brought  into  action  by  the  detestable  Munro. 
As  to  the  history  of  our  late  transactions,  whether  they 
be  all  right  or  not,  we,  on  our  part,  have  a  few  arguments 
and  considerations  more  to  lay  before  your  Excellency, 
as  to  the  cause  of  our  discontent,  as  well  as  to  the  cause 
of  our  late  actions  your  Excellency  denominates  illegal. 

The  alteration  of  jurisdiction  in  1764,  could  not  affect 
private  property.  Surely  his  Majesty  by  this  alteration, 
did  not  purpose  to  take  away  the  personal  property  of  a 
large  number  of  his  loyal  subjects,  and  transfer  it  to 
other  subjects;  the  English  Constitutions  will,  by  no 
means,  admit  of  this,  for  the  transferring  or  alienation  of 
property  is  a  sacred  prerogative  of  the  true  owner.  Kings 
and  Governors  cannot  intermeddle  therewith.  Further- 
more, your  Excellency  and  Council  must  needs  be  informed 
that  we  have  a  petition  lying  before  his  Majesty  and 
Council,  for  redress  of  grievances.  That  is  an  impartial 
board;  pray  why  may  it  not  be  determined  here?  For 
the  very  identical  matters  in  dispute  are  now,  and  for 
several  years  past  have  been  lying  before  that  Court, 


The  New  Hampshire  Grants.  29 

except  the  accusations  of  riotousness,  disorderly,  etc., 
which  is  improved  as  a  handle  to  subvert  property,  and 
that  only. 

Furthermore,  in  the  time  of  Sir  Henry  Moore's  admin- 
istration, his  Majesty  was  pleased  to  lay  the  govern- 
ment of  New  York  under  absolute  prohibition  not  to 
grant  or  patent  any  of  the  lands  antecedently  granted 
under  the  great  seal  of  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire; 
and  furthermore  forbade  the  government  to  disturb  or 
molest  the  settlers.  This  rightly  understood,  amounts 
to  a  supersedeas  over  the  authority  of  common  law, 
and  absolutely  controls  the  cognizance  thereof.  As  to 
the  particular  matters  in  the  prohibition  set  forth,  or 
matters  lying  before  his  Majesty  by  petition,  the  import 
of  the  prohibition  must  needs  be  thus,  namely:  that  his 
Majesty  by  it  informs  the  government  of  New  York  that 
he  has  taken  the  controversy,  to  him  made  known  by 
petition,  under  his  royal  consideration,  and  that,  after 
due  information  and  evidence  of  the  state  of  the  case, 
determines  to  settle  the  controversy;  consequently  for- 
bids the  government  taking  cognizance  thereof;  and 
common  sense  teaches  us  that  under  such  prohibition, 
if  a  judgment  at  common  law  be  supposed  to  be  valid,  it 
would  invalidate  the  authority  of  the  Crown  and  subvert 
and  overthrow  the  authority  of  the  kingdom,  as  it  would 
render  the  prohibitions  of  the  crown  perfectly  impertinent. 
Therefore,  common  law  in  the  case  before  us,  is  not 
clothed  with  cognizance  of  this  case,  much  less  with  au- 
thority to  dispossess  us;  consequently,  every  party  of 
men,  that  have,  with  officers,  or  otherwise,  come  into 
these  parts  to  dispossess  us,  came  in  open  defiance  and 


30      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

direct  opposition  to  his  Majesty's  orders  and  authority; 
and  though  they  style  us  rioters,  for  opposing  them,  and 
seek  to  catch  and  punish  us  as  such ;  yet,  in  reality,  them- 
selves are  the  rioters,  the  tumultuous,  disorderly,  stim- 
ulating faction,  or,  in  fine,  the  land-robbers;  and  every 
violent  act  they  have  done  to  compass  their  designs, 
though  ever  so  much  under  pretence  of  law,  is,  in  reality, 
a  violation  of  law,  and  an  insult  on  the  constitution  and 
authority  of  the  Crown,  as  well  as  to  many  of  us,  in  person 
who  have  been  great  sufferers  from  such  inhuman  exer- 
tions of  pretended  legality  of  law.  Right  and  wrong 
are  eternally  the  same,  to  all  periods  of  time,  places  and 
nations;  and  coloring  a  crime  with  a  specious  pretence 
of  law,  only  adds  to  the  criminality  of  it;  for,  it  subverts 
the  very  design  of  law,  prostituting  it  to  the  vilest  pur- 
poses. Can  any  man  in  the  exercise  of  reason  make 
himself  believe  that  a  number  of  attorneys  and  other 
gentlemen,  with  all  their  tackle  of  ornaments  and  com- 
pliments, and  French  finesse,  together  with  their  boasted 
legality  of  law — can  these  gentlemen  have  just  right  to 
the  lands,  labors  and  fortunes  of  the  New  Hampshire 
settlers?  Certainly  they  cannot.  Yet,  this  is  the  object 
they  had  in  view — by  mercenary  fraternity. 

We  do  not  suppose,  may  it  please  your  Excellency, 
we  are  making  opposition  to  a  government,  as  such;  it 
is  nothing  more  than  a  party,  chiefly  carried  on  by  a 
number  of  gentlemen  attorneys  (if  it  be  not  abuse  to 
gentlemen  of  merit  to  call  them  so),  who  manifest  a  sur- 
prising and  enterprising  thirst  of  avarice  after  our  coun- 
try; but,  for  a  collection  of  such  intriguers,  to  plan  matters 
of  influence  of  a  party,  so  as  eventually  to  become  judges 


^fH  ^^^ 

Hibk  ft 

u  fc  r  ^  ^  s! 

u  rh^ 

M  ^    ^\vS       A 


The  New  Hampshire  Grants.  31 

in  their  own  case,  and,  thereby  cheat  us  out  of  our  country, 
appears  to  us  so  audaciously  unreasonable  and  tyran- 
nical, that  we  view  it  with  the  utmost  detestation  and 
indignation,  and  our  breasts  glow  with  a  martial  fury  to 
defend  our  persons  and  fortunes  from  the  ravages  of 
those  that  would  destroy  us ;  but  not  against  your  Excel- 
lency's person  or  government. 

We  are  fully  persuaded,  your  Excellency's  ears  have 
been  much  abused  by  subtle  and  designing  men;  for,  we 
are  informed,  from  credible  authority,  your  Excellency 
has,  lately,  made  application  to  your  Assembly  to  raise 
an  armed  force  to  subdue  us,  but  that  the  motion  was 
negatived.  We  apprehend  your  Excellency  views  us  as 
opposing  your  Excellency's  jurisdiction,  and  that  the 
violent  acts  by  us  done  were  in  rebellion  to  his  Majes- 
ty's authority,  or  your  Excellency  had  never  proposed 
the  subduing  of  us;  we  are  morally  certain  we  can  con- 
vince your  Excellency  that  it  is  not  so;  but  that  on  the 
other  hand  Messieurs  Duane,  Kemp  and  their  associates, 
are  the  aggressors. 

We  have  chosen  two  men  from  among  us,  viz.,  Capt. 
Stephen  Fay  and  Mr.  Jonas  Fay,  to  treat  with  your 
Excellency  in  person;  who,  we  hope,  will  answer  such 
queries  and  give  your  Excellency  the  satisfaction  you 
hope  for. 

We  view  your  Excellency  as  our  Governor  and  polit- 
ical father,  and  hope  and  expect,  from  the  sincerity  and 
candor  of  your  Excellency's  letter,  you  will  be  friendly 
and  favorably  disposed  towards  us,  when  your  Excel- 
lency, by  these  lines,  perceives  the  grounds  of  our  discon- 
tent; for,  we  are  conscious  that  our  cause  is  good,  and 


32      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

that  it  was  oppression  which  has  been  the  ground  of  our 
discontent,  and  that  self-preservation  hath,  hitherto  urged 
us  to  the  measure  lately  taken.  And  we  now  earnestly 
intreat  your  Excellency's  aid  and  assistance  to  quiet  us 
in  our  possessions  and  properties  till  his  Majesty,  in  his 
royal  wisdom,  settle  the  controversy.  If  your  Excellency 
should  do  this,  there  would  be  an  end  to  riots,  so  called, 
and  our  tongues  unable  to  express  our  gratitude  to  your 
Excellency  for  such  protection. 

Therefore,  relying  on  your  Excellency's  great  wisdom 
and  goodness,  as  members  of  your  Government,  his  Majes- 
ty's loyal  and  liege  subjects,  we  subscribe  ourselves  your 
Excellency's  ever  faithful  and  humble  servants, 

ETHAN  ALLEN. 
SETH  WARNER. 
REMEMBER  BAKER. 
ROBERT  COCHRAN. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  the  foregoing  communications, 
Governor  Tryon  immediately  laid  them  before  his  Coun- 
cil, who  advised  the  Governor  to  afford  the  inhabitants 
of  those  townships  all  the  relief  in  his  power  by  suspend- 
ing all  prosecutions  in  behalf  of  the  crown  on  account 
of  the  crimes  alleged  against  them,  until  the  pleasure  of 
the  King  should  be  knpwn. 

It  was  further  recommended  that  the  owners  of  the 
contested  lands,  under  grants  from  the  Province  of  New 
York  should  not  be  disturbed  and  a  stay  be  made  in  all 
civil  suits  then  pending  relative  to  the  lands  during  the 
same  period.  This  advice  met  the  approbation  of  the 
Governor,  who  communicated  it  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Bennington  and  the  vicinity,  in  a  lengthy  proclamation 
issued  June  12,  1772. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONTROVERSY   CONCERNING    CLAIMS. 

Pending  these  negotiations,  the  Green  Mountain  Boys, 
urged  on  by  the  numerous  wrongs  under  which  they 
suffered  by  the  policy  of  the  government  of  New  York, 
through  its  governor  Sir  William  Tryon,  proceeded 
to  eject  a  number  of  settlers  on  Otter  Creek,  a  small 
stream  in  southwestern  Vermont,  who  held  their  lands 
under  titles  from  the  Governor  of  New  York.  This  ag- 
gression led  Governor  Tryon  to  issue  a  proclamation  or 
"letter"  to  the  inhabitants  of  Bennington  and  the  country 
adjacent,  in  which  he  expresssed  his  "high  displeasure 
at  the  breach  of  faith  and  honor  of  some  of  the  inhabitants 
in  dispossessing  the  settlers  on  Otter  Creek  and  its  neigh- 
borhood, of  their  possessions,  and  required  the  assistance 
of  the  people  in  putting,  forthwith,  those  families,  who 
have  been  thus  dispossessed,  into  re-possession  of  their 
lands  and  tenements." 

In  reply  to  this  letter,  the  following  lengthy  commu- 
nication from  Ethan  Allen  was  addressed  to  the  Governor 
on  behalf  of  a  majority  of  the  settlers  on  Otter  Creek: 

BENNINGTON,  Aug.  25,  1772. 
To  His  EXCELLENCY,  WILLIAM  TRYON,  ESQ.,  ETC. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency — We,  his  Majesty's 
liege  and  loyal  subjects,  inhabitants  of  Bennington,  and 
the  adjacent  country  have  received  your  Excellency's 

S3 


34      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

letter  of  the  llth  of  August  inst.,  by  which,  we  are  in- 
formed of  your  Excellency's  high  displeasure  towards 
us  by  reason  of  a  body  of  our  people's  dispossessing  sev- 
eral settlers  on  Otter  Creek,  and  its  neighborhood,  of  their 
possessions  during  the  very  time  our  messengers  attended 
on  your  Excellency  at  New  York  and  were  waiting  the 
determination  of  the  government  on  our  petition  that 
we  might  remain  unmolested  in  our  possessions  till 
the  king's  pleasure  could  be  obtained.  Your  Excellency 
further  informs  us  that  you  look  on  our  late  proceedings 
with  great  concern,  viewing  them  as  daring  insults  to  the 
government,  a  violation  of  public  faith  and  the  condi- 
tions granted  to  our  petition.  We  would,  with  proper 
submission,  give  your  Excellency  and  Council  a  short 
narrative  of  facts,  with  a  few  reflections  and  reasons 
thereon.  And, 

First,  we  would  observe  that  our  messengers  your 
Excellency  styles  Commissioners,  were  not  authorized  to 
establish  and  complete  articles  of  public  faith  for  their 
constituents.  The  business  assigned  them  was  to  deliver 
the  written  petition  and  inform  your  Excellency  and 
Council  of  the  facts  of  the  controversy  subsisting,  and 
further  negotiate  and  forward  the  matter  of  our  petition 
and  return  to  us  the  determination  of  the  government, 
reserving  to  ourselves  the  power  of  assenting  to  or  dis- 
senting therefrom;  though  true  it  is  when  the  articles 
of  amicable  settlement  or  order  of  government  was  read 
at  a  public  meeting  held  at  Bennington  on  the  15th  day 
of  July  ult.  the  said  order  and  proposals  were  universally 
complied  with  by  those  present;  from  which  time  we 
reasonably  compute  the  date  of  public  faith  and  sacred 


Controversy  Concerning  Claims.  35 

bond  of  friendship.  But  in  the  interim  the  conditions 
of  faith  were  forming,  and  before  a  ratification  thereof, 
Mr.  Kockburn,  a  noted  surveyor,  unknown  (as  we  suppose) 
to  your  Excellency  and  Council,  by  the  contrivance,  aid 
and  employ  of  certain  monopolizing  adversaries  of  ours, 
took  a  tour  to  the  northerly  parts  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants  to  survey  and  make  locations  on  our  land. 
Such  locating  we  view  as  a  manifest  plan  and  intention 
of  invading  our  property — the  same  as  intrenching  round 
a  city,  portends  a  siege  thereof. 

Our  people,  having  notice  of  Mr.  Kockburn 's  intrusion 
on  our  borders,  rallied  a  small  party  and  pursued  and  over- 
took him  and  his  party  and  in  their  pursuit  passed  the 
towns  of  Panton  and  New  Haven,  near  the  mouth  of 
Otter  Creek;  dispossessed  Col.  Reed  of  a  saw  mill,  in 
said  Panton,  which,  by  force,  and  without  color  or  even 
pretence  of  recourse  to  law,  he  had  taken  from  the  original 
owners  and  builders,  more  than  three  years  before,  and 
did  at  the  same  time  extend  his  force,  terrors  and  threats 
into  the  town  of  New  Haven;  who,  by  the  vicious  and 
haughty  aid  of  Mr.  Benzell,  the  famed  Engineer,  with  a 
number  of  assistants  under  their  command,  so  terrified 
the  inhabitants  (which  were  about  twelve  in  number) 
that  they  left  their  possessions  and  farms  to  the  conquer- 
ors, and  escaped  with  the  skin  of  their  teeth,  although 
they  had  expended  large  sums  of  money  in  cutting  roads 
to,  and  settling  in  that  new  country  as  well  as  fatigued 
and  labored  hard  in  cultivating  their  farms.  Colonel 
Reed  at  the  same  time  and  with  the  same  force  did  take 
possession  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  saw  logs  and  four- 
teen thousand  feet  of  pine  boards,  which  boards  were  made 


36     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

in  the  same  mill  and  all  lying  thereby;  all  of  which  he  con- 
verted to  his  own  use.  Not  long  after  the  original  pro- 
prietor of  the  said  saw  mill  did  re-enter  and  take  posses- 
sion thereof  but  was  a  second  time  attacked  by  Colonel 
Reed's  steward,  with  a  number  of  armed  men  under  his 
(supposed)  instructions  and  by  their  superior  force  and 
threats,  obliged  to  quit  the  premises  again — all  which 
tenements  said  Reed  occupied  and  enjoyed  until  dis- 
possessed as  your  Excellency's  letter  complains  of. 

But  to  return  to  Kockburn  again.  Our  party  having 
taken  him  as  aforesaid,  brought  him  to  the  town  of  Castle- 
ton,  near  South  Bay,  where,  being  first  informed  of  your 
Excellency's  clemency,  as  well  as  that  of  the  honorable 
Council,  in  granting  the  prayer  of  our  petition;  and  in 
conformity  to  the  articles  of  settlement  agreed  on,  dis- 
missed him  on  honorable  terms. 

This  is  a  short  narrative  of  facts,  for  the  proof  of 
which,  sufficient  affidavits  can  be  educed. 

We  are  apprehensive,  your  Excellency  has  been 
hitherto  unacqainted  with  these  facts  and  have,  there- 
fore exhibited  them  in  this  letter;  although  it  appears 
strange  to  us,  according  as  your  Excellency's  own  letter 
states  the  matter,  that  we  should  be  suspected  or  taxed 
with  violation  of  public  faith,  and  that  our  disingenuous 
and  dishonorable  violation  thereof,  hath  nullified  and 
made  void  the  late  amicable  settlement;  for  at  the  same 
time  your  Excellency  charges  us  with  breach  of  faith  and 
settlement,  the  very  preliminaries  of  this  faith  were  not 
known  on  our  part,  and  consequently  could  not  have 
been  complied  with;  the  very  stipulations  and  faith 
spoken  of  did  not  then  exist;  for  it  must  be  the  meeting 


Controversy  Concerning  Claims.  37 

of  the  minds  of  the  contracting  parties,  which  consti- 
tutes such  faith  and  agreement  and  of  course  cannot  be 
broken  before  its  existence. 

Mr.  Kockburn's  locating  our  lands,  in  the  mean  time 
the  preliminaries  of  public  faith  were  forming,  was  at 
least  as  much  a  breach  of  that  with  which  we  are 
charged.  Nay,  according  to  our  conception  of  the  matter, 
more  so;  as  he  made  the  first  movement  towards  the  in- 
vasion of  our  property. 

Soon  after  our  messengers  returned  from  New  York, 
and  read  the  Minutes  of  Council  and  your  Excellency's 
letter  of  compliance  therewith,  to  a  large  auditory,  con- 
vened at  Bennington  for  that  purpose,  composed  of 
inhabitants  of  that  place,  the  adjacent  country,  and 
sundry  respectable  gentlemen  from  the  neighboring  Pro- 
vinces; your  Excellency's  gracious,  wise  and  benevolent 
proposals  for  settling  unity  and  concord  in  our  part  of 
the  Province  were  by  those  present  unanimously  applaud- 
ed and  conceded  to;  and  all  possible  public  testimony 
of  honor  and  respect  paid  to  your  Excellency  and  Council 
by  sundry  discharges  of  cannon  and  small  arms;  your 
Excellency's  health,  long  life  and  prosperity,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  honorable  Council's,  was  the  toast;  your  name 
commanded  reverence  and  esteem  and  your  Excel- 
lency's person  in  particular,  became  precious  in  our 
eyes. 

And  we  do  humbly  assure  your  ExceUency  we  have 
no  disposition  of  alienation  of  affections  towards  you, 
or  knowingly  break  any  article  of  public  faith. 

There  are  two  propositions  which  are  the  objects  of 
our  attention: 


38      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

Firstly:  The  protection  of  and  the  maintaining  of  our 
property. 

And  secondly:  To  use  the  greatest  care  and  prudence 
not  to  break  the  article  of  public  faith,  or  insult  govern- 
mental authority. 

These  two  propositions,  we  mean  strictly  and  religi- 
ously to  adhere  to.  And  for  the  more  explicit  knowledge 
of  the  preliminaries  and  conditions  of  public  faith  and 
trust,  we  would  inform  your  Excellency  and  Council,  that 
our  acceptation  of  those  conditions  on  the  part  of  New 
York,  is  that  they  make  no  further  settlements  or  loca- 
tions on  our  lands,  granted  under  the  great  seal  of  the 
Providence  of  New  Hampshire,  until  his  Majesty's 
pleasure  be  obtained,  as  to  the  validity  of  the  grants. 
Although  this  was  not  so  fully  expressed,  yet  we  suppose 
it  was  implied  in  the  abstract  of  the  Minutes  of  Council; 
if  it  was  not,  we  pray  your  Excellency  and  Council  would 
undeceive  us  in  that  particular,  for  if  we  are  deceived  in 
this,  then  on  this  hypothesis  your  Excellency  and  Coun- 
cil's lenient  and  friendly  disposition  towards  us  will  not 
for  the  future  (by  us)  be  viewed  as  such;  for  such  loca- 
tion and  settlements  on  our  lands  would  be  incompatible 
with  friendship  and  a  manifest  infringement  upon  our 
property,  which  has  all  along  been  the  bone  of  con- 
tention. 

The  last  part  of  your  Excellency's  letter  to  us  con- 
tains a  requirement  of  our  immediate  assistance  in  repos- 
sessing Col.  Reed's  tenants  of  said  tenements.  As  to 
this  particular,  had  your  Excellency  have  known  by 
what  means  Colonel  Reed  obtained  possession  of  these 
lands  and  tenements,  undoubtedly  your  Excellency 


Controversy  Concerning  Claims.  39 

would  not  have  required  our  assistance  in  repossessing 
him;  or  have  viewed  with  concern  our  dispossessing  him, 
as  a  daring  insult  to  government;  for  the  case  rightly 
understood,  it  appears  that  his  conduct  was  a  daring 
insult  to  government  and  continued  violation  of  more 
than  three  years  of  the  laws,  restrictions,  regulations,  and 
economy  both  of  God  and  man;  a  notorious  breach  of 
the  tenth  commandment  of  the  decalogue,  which  says, 
"Thou  shalt  not  covet, "  etc.  -He,  coveting,  did  take  the 
saw-mill,  logs,  boards  and  also  the  lands,  labors,  posses- 
sions, farms,  tenements,  etc.,  etc.,  from  the  rightful 
owners,  proprietors  and  first  occupants  thereof,  without 
a  process  at  law,  as  aforesaid,  to  the  exclusion  from 
the  premises  more  than  three  years;  all  which  time  he 
has  been  enriching  himself  by  the  improvements  of  their 
estates;  and  should  we  repossess  him  of  the  premises 
again,  we  should  become  co-partners  with  him,  in  his 
wickedness.  Such  an  act  we  could  not  reconcile  to  our 
own  consciences;  it  being  apparently  immoral  and  most 
flagrantly  cruel  and  unjust. 

When  your  Excellency  and  Council  view  these  facts 
and  arguments,  we  humbly  conceive  we  shall  not  be  re- 
quired to  repossess  Colonel  Reed  of  the  premises,  nor  do 
we  expect  your  Excellency  and  Council  will  adjudge  us 
to  be  violators  of  the  late  articles  of  public  faith,  all  of 
which,  with  due  submission,  we  refer  to  your  Excellency 
and  Council. 

At  a  general  meeting  held  at  Manchester  on  the  27th 
day  of  August,  1772,  by  the  Committee  of  the  towns  of 
Bennington,  Sunderland,  Manchester,  Dorset,  Rupert, 
Pawlet,  Wells,  Poultney,  Castleton,  Pittsford  and  Rut- 


40      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

land  the  foregoing  answer  to  his  Excellency's  letter  of  the 
llth  inst.  was  read  to  the  said  committees,  and  the  vote 
was  called  by  Mr.  Nathan  Clark,  Chairman,  whether  the 
said  answer  be  approved  of  by  the  said  Committees  and 
it  was  voted  in  the  affirmative. 

And  we  do  now,  with  due  reverence,  ask  the  favor  of  a 
few  lines  which  may  certify  to  us  the  determination  of  the 
government,  relative  to  the  particulars  litigated  in  this 
paper,  and  remain  your  ever  faithful  and  most  obedient 
and  humble  servants. 

ATTEST,  ETHAN  ALLEN, 

Clerk  of  Said  Committees. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

REWARD    FOR    HIS    APPREHENSION. 

The  settlers  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants  were  a 
brave,  zealous  and  hardy  body  of  men  and  the  numerous 
wrongs  to  which  they  had  been  subjected  by  the  New 
York  authorities  had  led  them  to  a  firm  resistance  in 
defence  of  their  rights.  In  view  of  the  British  act  of  pro- 
hibition heretofore  referred  to,  the  government  of  New 
York,  urged  on  by  its  imperious  governor,  proceeded  to 
^  convey  lands  occupied  under  grants  from  royal  authority, 
while  the  Albany  courts  uniformly  decided  in  favor  of  the 
grantees  of  New  York.  Writs  of  possession  having  been 
issued,  and  every  means  put  in  requisition  to  defraud  the 
settlers  of  their  just  rights,  they  had  no  alternative  left 
but  open  resistance.  At  their  head  stood  Ethan  Allen, 
who  was  chosen  by  common  consent  to  become  their 
leader;  bold,  even  to  desperation,  he  was  fitted  in  every 
respect  for  the  important  character  he  sustained  in  the 
drama  which  enabled  him,  in  stage  parlance,  to  assume 
the  role  of  "leading  man"  with  productions  ranging  from 
farce-comedy  to  tragedy.  The  settlers  confidently  relied 
upon  his  skill,  his  zeal  and  his  well-known  reputation  for 
bravery,  for  the  successful  termination  of  their  difficul- 
ties; that  their  confidence  in  him  was  increased  by  the 
plans  he  originated  and  carried  into  effect  was  evident 
from  the  fact  that  he  was  chosen  to  command  rather  than 

41 


42     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

to  obey.  He  wrote  and  distributed  several  pamphlets, 
addressed  more  particularly  to  the  feelings  of  the  settlers, 
in  which  the  injustice  of  the  New  York  authorities  was 
strongly  depicted  and  the  proceedings  of  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys  triumphantly  vindicated.  He  contri- 
buted much  by  voice  and  pen  to  inform  the  minds,  arouse 
the  zeal  and  unite  the  efforts  of  the  settlers  in  an  assault 
upon  the  enemies  of  liberty. 

For  the  purpose  of  enforcing  such  measures  as  the 
exigency  of  the  situation  required,  the  inhabitants  of 
Rutland  and  Bennington  counties  met  at  Bennington 
and  formed  an  organization  with  accredited  delegates, 
which  was  to  meet  only  on  extraordinary  occasions. 
Among  other  measures  adopted  by  this  body,  was,  "that 
no  person  should  take  grants,  or  confirmation  of  grants, 
under  the  government  of  New  York."  Again  "all  the 
inhabitants  in  the  district  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants, 
were  forbidden  to  hold,  take  or  accept  any  office  of  honor 
or  profit  under  the  Colony  of  New  York,  and  all  civil  and 
military  officers  who  had  acted  under  the  authority  of  the 
Governor  or  Legislature  of  New  York,  were  required  to 
suspend  their  functions  on  pain  of  being  chastized." 

These  decrees  were  rigidly  and  severely  enforced 
whenever  an  occasion  necessitated  action;  the  more  com- 
mon mode  of  punishment  being  an  application  of  the 
"beach  seal"  on  the  naked  back,  and  banishment  from 
the  settlements.  A  few  instances,  while  they  may  serve 
to  amuse,  will  also  show  the  spirit  which  actuated  the 
settlers  in  punishing  their  enemies.  A  certain  Doctor  of 
Arlington  whose  name  is  unknown  to  the  author,  was  a 
warm  partisan  of  New  York  and  had  often  spoken  in  dis- 


Reward  for  His  Apprehension.  43 

respectful  terms  of  the  settlers  and  the  resolutions  adopted 
by  the  Bennington  Convention.  He  was  frequently  re- 
quested to  desist,  and,  disregarding  these  requests,  he  was 
carried  to  the  Green  Mountain  Tavern,  in  Bennington, 
where  the  Vigilance  Committee  heard  his  defence  and 
then  ordered  him  to  be  tied  in  an  armed  chair,  and  hoisted 
up  to  the  sign  of  the  Inn  which  was  a  catamount's  skin 
stuffed.  The  sign  was  fastened  upon  a  post  twenty-five 
feet  from  the  ground,  looking  towards  the  State  of  New 
York.  The  doctor  sat  there  for  two  hours,  in  sight  of  the 
people  facing  the  grinning  catamount  sign,  "as  a  punish- 
ment merited  by  his  enmity  to  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  people  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants."  The 
punishment  was  executed  doubtless  to  the  no  small  mer- 
riment of  a  large  crowd  of  people.  The  Doctor  was  finally 
let  down  and  dismissed  by  the  Committee  with  an  ad- 
monition "to  go  and  sin  no  more." 

A  certain  Benjamin  Hough  was  also  punished  under 
one  of  the  decrees  of  the  Convention.  He  had  accepted 
and  officiated  in  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  under 
the  authority  of  New  York,  and  being  arrested,  was 
brought  before  the  Committee  of  Safety  at  Sunderland. 
He  offered  in  plea  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York, but  was 
answered  by  the  decree  of  the  convention  which  forbade 
all  persons  holding  any  civil  or  military  office  under  the 
authority  of  New  York.  The  following  judgment  was 
pronounced  against  him  before  a  large  assemblage  of 
people:  "That  the  prisoner  be  taken  from  the  bar  of 
this  Committee  of  Safety  and  tied  to  a  tree,  and  there  on 
his  naked  back  to  receive  two  hundred  stripes;  his  back 
being  dressed,  he  should  depart  out  of  the  district;  and  on 


44      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

return  to  suffer  death,  unless  by  special  leave  of  the  Con- 
vention." He  received  the  chastisement  and  departed 
a  sadder  but  wiser  man. 

Notwithstanding  these  evidences  that  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys  would  not  submit  to  the  terms  proposed 
by  New  York,  the  authorities  of  that  state  did  not  relax 
their  exertions  to  make  them  submit  to  their  author- 
ity. At  a  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  held 
February  5,  1774,  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted : 

1.  That  it  appears  to  this  Committee  that  there  at 
present  prevails  in  part  of  the  county  of  Charlotte  and  in 
the  northeastern  district  of  the  county  of  Albany,  a  dan- 
gerous and  destructive  spirit  of  riot  and  licentiousness, 
subversive  of  all  order  and  good  government;  and  that  it 
has  become  an  intolerable  grievance,  which  requires  im- 
mediate redress. 

2.  Resolved,   That   it   appears   to   this   Committee, 
that  many  acts  of  outrage,  cruelty,  and  oppression  have 
been  there  perpetrated  by  a  number  of  lawless  persons, 
calling  themselves  the  Bennington  Mob,  who  have  seized, 
insulted  and  terrified  several  magistrates  and  other  civil 
officers  so  that  they  dare  not  exercise  their  respective 
functions;  rescued  prisoners  for  debt,  assumed  to  them- 
selves military  commands,  and  judicial  power;  burned 
and  demolished  the  houses  and  property  and  beat  and 
abused  the  persons  of  many  of  his  Majesty's  subjects; 
expelled  them  from  their  possessions,  and  put  a  period  to 
the  administration  of  its  justice  and  spread  terror  and 
destruction  through  that  part  of  the  country  which  is  ex- 
posed to  their  oppression. 


Keward  for  His  Apprehension.  45 

3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Committee 
that  the  Complainants  before  this  house  and  others,  who 
inhabit  part  of  that  colony  and  from  respect  to  govern- 
ment will  not  countenance  or  be  concerned  in  the  said 
riotous  proceedings,  are  exposed  from  the  violence  of  the 
rioters  to  imminent  danger,  both  in  person  and  properties, 
and  that  they  stand  in  need   of   immediate    protection 
and  succor. 

4.  Resolved,  That  it  appears  to  this  Committee  that 
Ethan  Allen,  Seth  Warner,   Remember  Baker,   Robert 
Cochran,    Peleg    Sunderland,    Sylvanus    Brown,    James 
Brackenridge  and  John  Smith  are  principal  ring-leaders 
of  and  actors  in  the  riots  and  disturbances  aforesaid, 
and  that  it  is  therefore  the  opinion  of  this  Committee  that 
an  humble  address  be  presented  to  his  Excellency,  desir- 
ing that  he  would  be  pleased  to  issue  a  Proclamation 
offering  a  reward  of  fifty  pounds  for  apprehending  and 
securing  any  or  either  of  the  persons  above  named,  in 
his  Majesty's  gaol  in  Albany;  and  commanding  the  mag- 
istrates and  other  civil  officers  of  the  counties  of  Albany 
and  Charlotte  to  be  active  and  vigilant  in  suppressing 
the  said  riols  and  preserving  peace  and  good  order,  as 
well  as  in  bringing  to  justice  the  perpetrators  and  authors 
of  said  riots. 

5.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  Committee, 
that  a  bill  be  brought  in  more  effectually  to  suppress  the 
said  riotous  and  disorderly  proceedings,   maintain  the 
free  course  of  justice  and  for  bringing  the  offenders  to 
condign  punishment.     Which  report  he  read  in  his  place 
and  afterwards  delivered  it  in  at  the  table,  where  the 
said  resolutions  were  severally  read  a  second  time  and 


46      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

it  was  resolved  that  this  house  doth  agree  with  the  Com- 
mittee in  their  said  resolutions. 

Ordered.  That  a  bill  be  brought  in  pursuant  to  the 
last  resolution,  and  that  Mr.  Brush  and  Col.  Ten  Broeck, 
prepare  and  bring  in  the  same.  Ordered  that  Capt. 
Delancy  and  Mr.  Walton,  wait  on  his  Excellency  the 
Governor  with  the  foregoing  address  and  resolutions  of 
the  house. 

These  resolutions,  as  may  be  expected,  created  much 
excitement  among  the  settlers  and  led  them  to  the  speedy 
adoption  of  counter-measures.  A  general  meeting  of  all 
the  Committees  for  the  seveial  townships  on  the  west 
side  of  the  range  of  Green  Mountains,  was  held  at 
Manchester  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1774,  at  which  the 
grievances  of  the  people  were  freely  discussed  as  well  as 
the  extraordinary  "proceedings  of  the  New  York  Legis- 
lature." In  the  conclusion  of  the  answer  adopted  by 
the  meeting  it  was  resolved  "that  as  a  county,  we  will 
stand  by  and  defend  our  friends  and  neighbors  indicted 
as  rioters,  at  the  expense  of  our  lives  and  fortunes";  and 
"that  for  the  future  every  necessary  preparation  be  made 
and  that  our  inhabitants  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
at  a  minute's  warning  to  aid  and  defend  such  friends  of 
our  cause  who  for  their  merit  to  the  great  and  general  cause 
are  falsely  denominated  rioters;  but  that  we  will  not 
act  anything  more  or  less  but  on  the  defensive  and  always 
encourage  due  execution  of  law  in  civil  cases,  and  also 
in  criminal  prosecution,  that  are  so,  indeed;  and  that 
we  will  assist  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  the  officers 
appointed  for  that  purpose." 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 


Reward  for  His  Apprehension.  47 

On  the  9th  of  March,  and  previous  to  the  time  the 
proceedings  of  the  Manchester  Convention  were  received, 
the  General  Assembly  of  New  York  proceeded  to  carry 
into  effect  their  resolutions  of  the  5th  of  February  and 
enacted  the  following  law: 

An  Act  for  preventing  tumultuous  and  riotous  Assem- 
blies in  the  places  therein  mentioned,  and  for  the  more 
speedy  and  effectual  punishing  of  the  rioters. 

Whereas,  a  spirit  of  riot  and  licentiousness  has  of  late 
prevailed  in  some  parts  of  the  counties  of  Charlotte  and 
Albany,  and  many  acts  of  outrage  and  cruelty  have  been 
perpetrated  by  a  number  of  turbulent  men  who,  assem- 
bling from  time  to  time  in  arms,  have  seized,  insulted 
and  menaced  several  magistrates  and  other  civil  officers, 
so  that  they  dare  not  execute  their  functions — rescued 
prisoners  for  debt — assumed  to  themselves  military  com- 
mands, and  judicial  powers — burned  and  demolished 
houses  and  property,  and  beat  and  abused  the  persons 
of  many  of  his  Majesty's  subjects — expelled  others  from 
their  possessions — and  finally  have  put  a  period  to  the 
administration  of  justice  within  and  spread  terror  and 
destruction  throughout  that  part  of  the  country  which 
is  exposed  to  their  oppression.  Therefore,  for  the  pre- 
venting and  suppressing  of  such  riots  and  tumults,  and 
for  the  more  speedy  and  effectual  punishing  of  the  of- 
fenders therein, 

Be  it  enacted  by  his  Excellency,  the  Governor, 
the  Council,  and  the  General  Assembly,  and  it  is  hereby 
enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  if  any  persons 
to  the  number  of  three  or  more  being  unlawfully  riot- 
ously or  tumultuously  assembled  within  either  of  the  said 


48      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

counties  to  the  disturbance  of  the  public  peace,  at  any 
time  after  the  passing  of  this  act,  and  being  required  or 
commanded  by  any  one  or  more  justice  or  justices  of  the 
peace,  or  by  the  high  sheriff  or  his  under  sheriff,  or  by 
any  one  of  the  coroners  of  the  county,  where  such  assem- 
bly shall  be,  by  proclamation  to  be  made  in  the  King's 
name,  in  the  form  hereinafter  directed,  to  disperse  them- 
selves and  peaceably  to  depart  to  their  habitations  or  to 
their  lawful  business,  shall  to  the  number  of  three  or 
more  notwithstanding  such  proclamation  made,  unlaw- 
fully, riotously,  and  tumultuously  remain  or  continue 
together  to  the  number  of  three  or  more,  after  such  com- 
mand or  request  made  by  proclamation,  shall  for  every 
such  offence,  upon  conviction  thereof,  in  due  form  of  law 
either  in  the  supreme  court  of  judicature  of  this  colony, 
or  at  the  courts  of  oyer  and  terminer,  and  general  gaol 
delivery,  or  at  the  general  sessions  of  the  peace  to  be 
held  respectively  in  and  for  the  said  counties  of  Albany 
and  Charlotte,  or  either  of  them,  suffer  twelve  months, 
imprisonment,  without  bail  or  mainprize,  and  such 
further  corporal  punishment  as  the  respective  courts 
before  which  he  or  she  or  they  shall  be  convicted,  shall 
judge  fit,  not  extending  to  life  or  limb;  and  before  his  or 
her  discharge  shall  enter  into  recognizance  with  two 
sufficient  sureties  in  such  sum  as  the  said  courts  shall 
respectively  direct,  to  be  of  good  behavior  and  keep  the 
peace  towards  his  Majesty  and  all  his  subjects,  for  the  term 
of  three  years  from  such  his,  her,  or  their  discharge  out 
of  prison. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, That  the  order  and  form  of  the  proclamation  which 


Reward  for  His  Apprehension.  49 

shall  be  made  by  the  authority  of  this  act,  shall  be  as 
hereafter  follows,  that  is  to  say:  The  justice  or  other 
person  authorized  by  this  act  to  make  the  said  proclama- 
tion, shall  among  the  said  rioters  or  as  near  them  as  he 
can  safely  come,  with  a  loud  voice,  command  or  cause 
to  be  commanded  silence  to  be  kept  while  proclamation 
is  making;  and  shall  then  openly  with  a  loud  voice  make, 
or  cause  to  be  made,  a  proclamation  in  these  words,  or  to 
the  like  effect:  Our  Sovereign.  Lord,  the  King,  chargeth 
and  commandeth  all  persons  being  assembled,  immedi- 
ately to  disperse  themselves  and  peaceably  to  depart  to 
their  habitations  or  to  theirlawful  business,  upon  the  pain 
contained  in  the  act  made  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the 
reign  of  King  George  the  Third,  to  prevent  tumultuous 
and  riotous  assemblies.  And  every  such  justice  or 
justices  of  the  peace,  sheriff,  under  sheriff,  or  coroner, 
within  the  limits  of  the  respective  counties  where  they 
reside  are  hereby  authorized,  empowered  and  required 
on  notice  or  knowledge  of  any  such  unlawful,  riotous 
and  tumultuous  assembly,  forthwith  to  repair  to  the  place 
where  such  unlawful,  riotous  and  tumultuous  assembly 
shall  be,  to  the  number  of  three  or  more,  and  there  to 
make  or  cause  to  be  made,  the  proclamation  in  the  manner 
aforesaid. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, That  if  any  person  or  persons  do,  or  shall,  with  force 
and  arms,  wilfully  and  knowingly  oppose,  obstruct  or 
in  any  manner  wilfully  and  knowingly  let,  hinder  or  hurt 
any  person  or  persons  who -shall  begin  to  proclaim,  or 
go  to  proclaim,  according  to  the  proclamation  hereby 
directed  to  be  made,  whereby  such  proclamation  shall 


50     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

not  be  made;  that  then  every  such  opposing,  letting 
hindering  or  hurting  such  person  or  persons  so  being  or 
going  to  make  such  proclamation  as  aforesaid,  shall  be 

adjudged  felony,  without  benefit  of  clergy;  and  that  the 
offenders  therein  shall  be  judged  felons  and  shall  suffer 
death  as  in  cases  of  felony  without  benefit  of  clergy. 
And  that  also  every  such  person  or  persons  so  being  un- 
lawfully, riotously  and  tumultuously  assembled  to  the 
number  of  three  as  aforesaid,  or  more  to  whom  procla- 
mation should  or  ought  to  have  been  made,  if  the  same 
had  not  been  hindered  as  aforesaid,  shall  in  case  they  or 
any  of  them  to  the  number  of  three  or  more,  shall  con- 
tinue together  and  not  disperse  themselves,  after  such 
let  or  hindrance,  having  knowledge  of  such  let  or  hin- 
drance, shall,  likewise,  for  every  such  offense,  upon  convic- 
tion thereof  in  manner  aforesaid,  suffer  the  same  pains  and 
penalties  as  are  hereby  inflicted  on  those  who  shall  con- 
tinue together  to  the  number  of  three  or  more,  after  they 
shall  be  commanded  to  depart  to  their  habitations,  or 
lawful  business  by  proclamation  as  aforesaid. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, That  if  such  persons  so  unlawfully,  riotously  and  tu- 
multuously assembled,  or  any  three  or  more  of  them 
after  proclamation  made  in  manner  aforesaid,  shall  con- 
tinue together,  and  not  forthwith  disperse  themselves, 
it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  every  such  justice 
of  the  peace,  sheriff,  under  sheriff,  coroner  or  constable, 
of  any  county  or  township  where  such  assembly  shall  be, 
and  to  and  for  such  person  or  persons  as  shall  be  com- 
manded to  be  assisting  unto  such  justice  of  the  peace, 
sheriff,  under  sheriff,  coroner  or  constable  (who  are  hereby 


Reward  for  His  Apprehension.  51 

authorized  and  empowered  to  command  all  his  Majesty's 
subjects  of  age  and  ability,  to  be  aiding  and  assisting 
to  them  therein)  to  seize  and  apprehend,  and  they  are 
hereby  required  to  seize  and  apprehend  such  persons  so 
unlawfully,  riotously  and  tumultuously  assembled  togeth- 
er, after  proclamation  made  as  aforesaid,  and  forthwith 
to  carry  the  persons  so  apprehended,  before  any  one  or 
more  of  his  Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace  of  the  said 
counties  of  Charlotte  or  Albany  in  order  to  their  being 
proceeded  against  for  such  of  their  offences  according 
to  law. 

And  that  if  such  persons  so  unlawfully,  riotously  and 
tumultuously  assembled,  or  any  of  them,  shall  happen  to 
be  killed,  maimed  or  hurt  in  the  dispersing,  seizing  or  ap- 
prehending them,  by  reason  of  their  resisting  the  persons 
so  dispersing,  seizing  or  apprehending,  or  endeavoring 
to  disperse,  seize  or  apprehend  them;  and  then,  every 
such  justice  of  the  peace,  sheriff,  under  sheriff,  coroner 
or  constable  and  all  and  singular  persons  aiding  and 
assisting  to  them,  or  any  of  them,  shall  be  freed,  dis- 
charged and  indemnified,  as  well  against  the  King's  Maj- 
esty, his  heirs  and  successors,  as  against  all  and  every  other 
person  or  persons,  of,  for  or  concerning  the  killing,  maim- 
ing or  hurting  of  any  such  person  or  persons  so  unlaw- 
fully, riotously  and  tumultuously  assembled,  that  shall 
happen  to  be  so  killed,  maimed  or  hurt  as  aforesaid. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, That  if  any  person  or  persons  within  the  said  coun- 
ties, or  either  of  them,  not  being  lawfully  authorized  a 
judge,  justice  or  magistrate,  shall  assume  judicial  power 
or  shall  try,  fine,  sentence  or  condemn  any  person  who 


52     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

shall  either  be  absent  or  shall  unlawfully  or  forcibly  be 
seized,  taken  or  brought  before  him  or  them,  for  trial  or 
punishment;  or  if  any  person  or  persons  shall  aid  or 
assist  in  such  illegal  proceedings,  or  shall  enforce,  execute 
or  carry  into  effect;  or  if  any  person  or  persons  shall  un- 
lawfully seize,  detain  or  confine  or  assault  and  beat  any 
magistrate  or  civil  officer,  for  or  in  the  respect  of  any  act  or 
proceeding  in  the  due  exercise  of  his  function,  or  in  order 
to  compel  him  to  resign,  renounce  or  surcease  his  com- 
mission or  authority,  or  to  terrify,  hinder  or  prevent  him 
from  performing  and  discharging  the  duties  thereof;  or 
if  any  person  or  persons  either  secretly  or  openly  shall 
unlawfully,  wilfully  and  maliciously  burn  or  destroy  the 
grain,  corn  or  hay  of  any  other  person,  being  in  any  en- 
closure; or  if  any  persons  unlawfully,  riotously  and  tu- 
multuously  assembled  together,  to  the  disturbance  of  the 
public  peace,  shall,  unlawfully  and  with  force,  demolish 
or  pull  down,  or  begin  to  demolish  or  pull  down,  any 
dwelling  house,  barn,  stable,  grist  mill,  saw  mill,  or  out- 
house, within  either  of  the  said  counties,  that  then  each  of 
the  said  offences,  respectively,  shall  be  adjudged  felony 
without  benefit  of  clergy;  and  the  offenders  therein  shall 
be  adjudged  felons,  and  shall  suffer  death,  as  in  cases  of 
felony,  without  benefit  of  clergy. 

And  whereas  complaint  and  proofs  have  been  made 
as  well  before  his  Excellency  the  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil, as  before  the  General  Assembly,  that  Ethan  Allen, 
sometime  of  Salisbury,  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut, 
but  late  of  Bennington,  in  the  county  of  Albany,  yeoman; 
Seth  Warner,  late  of  Bennington,  in  said  county,  yeoman; 
Remember  Baker,  late  of  Arlington,  in  the  said  county, 


Reward  for  His  Apprehension.  53 

yeoman;  Robert  Cochran,  late  of  Rupert,  in  the  county 
of  Charlotte,  yeoman;  Peleg  Sunderland  and  Silvanus 
Brown,  late  of  Socialborough,  in  the  same  county,  yeo- 
man; James  Breckenridge,  late  of  Wallumschack,  in  the 
county  of  Albany,  yeoman;  and  John  Smith,  late  of 
Socialborough,  yeoman,  have  been  principal  ringleaders 
of  and  actors  in  the  riots  and  disturbances  aforesaid; 
and  the  General  Assembly  have  thereupon  addressed 
his  Excellency  the  Governor  to  issue  a  proclamation 
offering  certain  rewards  for  apprehending  and  securing 
the  said  offenders,  and  for  bringing  them  and  the  other 
perpetrators  and  authors  of  the  riots  to  justice:  And 
forasmuch  as  such  disorderly  practices  are  highly  criminal 
and  destructive  to  the  peace  and  settlement  of  the  coun- 
try, and  it  is  indispensably  necessary  for  want  of  process 
to  outlawry  (which  is  not  used  in  this  colony)  that  special 
provision  be  made  for  bringing  such  offenders,  in  future, 
to  trial  and  punishment  without  exposing  the  colony  to 
the  expense  of  extraordinary  rewards  and  bounties  for 
apprehending  such  offenders, 

Be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That 
it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  his  Excellency  the 
Governor  or  the  Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief,  for 
the  time  being,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the  council 
as  often  as  either  of  the  above  named  persons,  or  any 
other  person  shall  be  indicted  in  either  of  the  counties 
aforesaid,  for  any  offence  perpetrated  after  the  passing 
of  this  act,  made  capital  by  this  or  any  other  law,  or 
where  any  person  may  stand  indicted  for  any  of  the 
offences  above  mentioned,  not  made  felony  by  this  act, 
to  make  his  order  in  council,  thereby  requiring  and  com- 


54      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

manding  such  offender  or  offenders  to  surrender  them- 
selves, respectively,  within  the  space  of  seventy  days 
next  after  the  first  publication  thereof  in  the  New  York 
Gazette  and  Weekly  Mercury,  to  one  of  his  Majesty's 
justices  of  the  peace,  for  either  of  the  said  counties  re- 
spectively, who  are  hereby  required  thereupon  to  commit 
him  or  them,  without  bail  or  mainprize,  to  the  gaol  of 
the  city  of  New  York  or  of  the  city  and  county  of  Albany, 
to  the  end  that  he  or  they  may  be  forthcoming  to  answer 
the  offence  or  offences  wherewith  he  or  they  shall  stand 
charged,  according  to  the  ordinary  course  of  law;  which 
order  the  clerk  of  his  Majesty's  Council  or  his  deputy 
shall  cause  forthwith  to  be  printed  and  published,  in 
eight  successive  papers  of  the  New  York  Gazette"  and 
Weekly  Mercury;  the  first  two  of  which  to  be  forthwith 
transmitted  to  the  sheriffs  of  the  counties  of  Albany  and 
Charlotte;  and  the  said  sheriffs,  respectively,  shall  within 
six  days  after  the  receipt  thereof  cause  the  same 
printed  orders  to  be  affixed  upon  the  door  of  the  court- 
house of  the  county  of  Albany  and  upon  the  door  of  the 
dwelling-house  of  Patrick  Smith,  Esq.,  where  the  courts 
are  now  usually  held  for  the  said  county  of  Charlotte,  and 
upon  the  doors  of  two  other  public  houses  in  each  of  their 
respective  counties.  And  in  case  the  said  offenders 
shall  not  respectively  surrender  themselves,  pursuant 
to  such  orders  of  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  or  of  the 
Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief  for  the  time  being, 
to  be  made  in  council  as  aforesaid,  he  or  they  so  neglect- 
ing or  refusing  to  surrender  himself  or  themselves  as 
aforesaid,  shall  from  the  day  appointed  for  his  or  their 
surrender  as  aforesaid,  be  adjudged,  deemed  and  (if  in- 


Reward  for  His  Apprehension.  55 

dieted  for  a  capital  offence  hereafter  to  be  perpetrated) 
to  be  convicted  and  attainted  of  felony  and  shall  suffer 
death  as  in  cases  of  persons  convicted  and  attainted  of 
felony,  by  verdict  and  judgment  without  benefit  of  clergy; 
and  that  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  and  by  the  supreme 
court  of  judicature  of  this  colony,  or  the  courts  of  oyer 
and  terminer,  or  general  gaol  delivery  for  the  respective 
counties  aforesaid,  to  award  execution  against  such 
offender  or  offenders,  so  indicted  for  a  capital  offence 
perpetrated  after  the  passing  of  this  act,  in  such  a  manner 
as  if  he  or  they  had  been  convicted  or  attainted  in  the 
said  supreme  courts  of  judicature,  or  before  such  courts 
of  oyer  and  terminer  of  general  gaol  delivery  respectively. 
And  if  any  offender,  being  indicted  for  a  lesser  offence, 
under  the  degree  of  felony,  shall  not  surrender  himself 
within  the  time  fixed  by  such  order,  and  after  such  notice 
aforesaid,  he  shall  thenceforth  be  deemed  guilty  of  the 
offence  for  which  he  may  be  charged  by  such  indictment ; 
and  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  court  wherein  such  indict- 
ment is  found,  to  proceed  to  pronounce  such  judgment 
against  the  offender  as  might  lawfully  be  done  if  he  was 
present  :'n  court  and  convicted  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  law  of  the  crime  wherewith  he  shall  so  stand  charged 
as  aforesaid — Provided  always — 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  same  authority 
aforesaid,  That  if  any  person  so  neglecting  to  surrender 
himself  as  aforesaid  within  the  said  seventy  days  shall 
at  any  time  after  surrender  himself  to  the  sheriff  of  the 
city  of  New  York  or  Albany,  or  of  the  counties  of  Dutch- 
ess  or  West  Chester  (who  are  to  receive  and  safely  keep 
such  offenders)  and  being  actually  in  custody,  shall  ex- 


56      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

hibit  reasonable  proof  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  judges 
of  the  supreme  court  of  this  colony,  or  either  of  them, 
that  he  was  not  within  either  of  the  said  counties  of  Cum- 
berland or  Gloucester,  at  any  time  after  the  publication 
and  notices  above  directed,  and  before  such  surrender 
of  himself  as  aforesaid;  then  such  judge  before  whom 
such  proof  is  made,  shall  forthwith  notify  the  same  in 
writing  to  the  sheriff  to  whom  any  warrant  of  execution 
for  the  executing  of  such  offender,  or  any  other  process  for 
any  lesser  punishment  hath  been  or  may  be  issued;  and 
thenceforth  such  prisoner  or  offender  shall  not  be  liable 
to  suffer  death  or  any  other  punishment  for  not  surren- 
dering himself — Provided  also  that  nothing  in  this  act 
contained  shall  be  construed  to  exempt  any  offender  so 
surrendering  himself  after  the  seventy  days  as  aforesaid, 
from  any  punishment  to  which  he  may  be  liable  for  any 
other  crime  than  for  not  surrendering  himself  within  the 
said  seventy  days  as  aforesaid ;  nor  to  deprive  any  person 
who  shall  so  surrender  himself  within  the  seventy  days 
from  being  bailed,  in  cases  where  he  shall  be  bailable  by 
law;  anything  herein  contained  to  the  contrary  thereof, 
in  any  wise,  notwithstanding. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  same  authority 
aforesaid,  that  all  and  every  person  or  persons  who  shall, 
after  the  expiration  of  the  time  to  be  appointed,  as  afore- 
said, for  the  surrender  of  the  respective  offenders  herein 
before  named,  harbor,  receive,  conceal,  abet  or  succor 
such  offender  or  offenders,  knowing  him  or  them  to  have 
been  required  to  surrender  him  or  themselves  by  such 
order  or  orders  as  aforesaid,  and  not  to  have  surrendered 
pursuant  thereto,  shall  upon  conviction  thereof,  in  due 


Reward  for  His  Apprehension.  57 

form  of  law,  suffer  the  same  pains  and  penalties  as  are,  by 
this  act  inflicted  on  those  who  shall  continue  together  to 
the  number  of  three  or  more  after  they  shall  be  commanded 
to  depart  to  their  habitation  or  lawful  business  by  pro- 
clamation as  aforesaid. 

And  whereas  the  said  county  of  Charlotte  hath  but 
lately  been  set  off  from  the  said  county  of  Albany  and 
there  is  yet  no  gaol  or  court-house  erected  within  the  same; 
and  a  great  part  of  the  said  county  being  involved  in  a 
state  of  anarchy  and  confusion  by  reason  of  the  violent 
proceedings  of  the  aforesaid  riotous  and  disorderly  people, 
from  whence  it  must  at  present  be  extremely  difficult,  if 
not  impracticable,  to  bring  offenders  to  justice  within  the 
said  county — 

Be  it  therefore  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, That  all  treasons,  felonies,  crimes,  misdemeanors 
and  offences  whatsoever,  at  any  time  hereafter  to  be  com- 
mitted or  perpetrated,  within  the  said  county  of  Char- 
lotte, shall  and  may  be  proceeded  against  and  presented 
by  any  grand  jury  for  the  county  of  Albany,  from  time  to 
time  to  be  impaneled  and  sworn  at  any  court  of  criminal 
jurisdiction  to  be  held  in  and  for  the  said  county  of  Albany; 
who  shall  and  may  charge  any  of  the  said  offences  to  have 
been  committed  in  any  part  of  the  said  county  of  Char- 
lotte; and  all  indictments  so  found  by  them  shall  be  ad- 
judged to  be  good  and  valid,  notwithstanding  that  the 
place  of  perpetrating  any  of  the  said  offences  be  in  the  said 
indictments  alleged  to  be  out  of  the  said  county  of  Albany; 
and  all  such  offences  and  offenders  which  shall  be  present- 
ed or  indicted  as  aforesaid,  shall  and  may  be  tried  within 
the  county  of  Albany,  and  by  a  jury  thereof  and  there 


58      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

heard,  determined  and  punished  in  the  same  manner  and 
as  if  such  treason,  felony,  crime,  misdemeanor  or  offence 
had  arisen  and  been  perpetrated  within  the  said  county  of 
Albany. 

Provided  always,  and  be  it  further  enacted,  That 
if  at  any  time  hereafter  the  justices  to  be  appointed  for 
holding  courts  of  oyer  and  terminer  and  general  gaol  de- 
livery for  the  said  county  of  Charlotte,  in  cases  cognizable 
before  them,  or  the  justices  of  the  general  sessions  of  the 
peace  for  the  said  county  of  Charlotte,  in  cases  cognizable 
before  them,  shall  conceive  that  any  prisoner  or  offender 
may  be  safely  brought  to  justice  within,  and  by  a  jury  of 
the  said  county  of  Charlotte,  that  then  it  shall  and  may  be 
lawful  to  and  for  each  of  the  said  courts  respectively,  to 
proceed  against  and  try  such  prisoner  or  offender,  having 
lawful  cognizance  of  his  cause,  within  and  by  a  jury  of  the 
said  county  of  Charlotte;  and  him  there  to  acquit  or  sen- 
tence, condemn,  and  punish,  as  the  law  directs;  anything 
in  this  act  to  the  contrary  thereof  notwithstanding. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, That  this  act  shall  be  publicly  read  in  every  court  of 
general  sessions  of  the  peace,  to  be  held  in  each  of  the  said 
counties  of  Albany  and  Charlotte  respectively. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, That  this  act  shall  remain  and  continue  in  full  force 
and  effect  from  the  passing  thereof  until  the  first  day  of 
January  which  will  be  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  seventy  six. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DEFYING   THE    AUTHORITIES. 

The  passage  of  the  foregoing  law  blasted  every  prospect 
of  amity  or  peace  between  the  belligerents.  The  Green 
Mountain  Boys  regarded  it  as  an  act  to  frighten  them  into 
submission  to  what  they  regarded  as  unjust  and  arbitrary 
measures.  Under  this  impression,  therefore,  the  threats 
were  regarded  with  contempt,  and  only  served  to  rivet 
still  closer  their  attachment  to  the  position  they  had  as- 
sumed. As  an  evidence  of  this,  we  find  the  following 
remonstrance  to  the  law,  signed  by  Ethan  Allen  and 
others,  which  presents  a  fair  specimen  of  the  views  and 
feelings  of  the  great  body  of  the  New  Hampshire  grantees 
at  this  trying  period; 

His  Excellency,  Governor  Tryon,  in  conformity  to 
the  addresses  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  colony  of 
New  York,  having  on  the  9th  day  of  March,  1774,  with 
the  advice  of  his  Council,  issued  his  proclamation  offering 
therein  large  sums  of  money  for  the  purpose  of  apprehend- 
ing and  imprisoning  the  following  persons,  viz:  Ethan 
Allen,  Seth  Warner,  Remember  Baker,  Robert  Cochran, 
Peleg  Sunderland,  Silvanus  Brown,  James  Brackenridge 
and  James  Smith. 

And  whereas  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  by  the  same 
proclamation,  hath  strictly  enjoined  and  commanded  all 

59 


60     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

magistrates,  justices  of  the  peace,  sheriffs  and  other  civil 
officers  of  the  counties  of  Albany  and  Charlotte  to  be  act- 
ive and  vigilant  in  apprehending  and  imprisoning  the  per- 
sons above  named ;  and  we,  the  aforesaid  persons  who  have 
hereunto  subscribed,  being  conscious  that  our  cause  is 
good  and  equitable  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  all  unpreju- 
diced and  honest  men,  are  determined  at  all  events,  to 
maintain  and  defend  the  same  till  his  Majesty's  pleasure 
shall  be  known  concerning  the  validity  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants.  And  we  now  proclaim  to  the  public,  not 
only  for  ourselves  but  for  the  New  Hampshire  grantees 
and  occupants  in  general  that  the  spring  and  moving 
cause  of  our  opposition  to  the  government  of  New  York 
was  self-preservation,  viz.:  Firstly,  the  preservation  and 
maintaining  of  our  property;  and  secondly,  since  that 
government  is  so  incensed  against  us,  therefore  it  stands 
us  in  hand  to  defend  our  lives;  for  it  appears  by  a  late  set 
of  laws  passed  by  the  legislature  thereof  that  the  lives  and 
property  of  the  New  Hampshire  settlers  are  manifestly 
struck  at;  but  that  the  public  may  rightly  understand  the 
essence  of  the  controversy,  we  now  proclaim  to  those  law- 
givers and  to  the  world  that  if  the  New  York  patentees 
will  remove  their  patents  that  have  been  subsequently 
lapsed  and  laid  on  the  New  Hampshire  charters,  and 
quiet  us  in  our  possessions,  agreeable  to  his  Majesty's  di- 
rections, and  suspend  those  criminal  prosecutions  against 
us  for  being  rioters  (as  we  are  unjustly  denominated)  then 
will  our  settlers  be  orderly  and  submissive  subjects  to 
government;  but,  be  it  known  to  that  despotic  fraternity 
of  law-makers  and  law-breakers  that  we  will  not  be  fooled 
or  frightened  out  of  our  property.  They  have  broke  over 


Defying  the  Authorities.  61 

his  Majesty's  express  prohibitions  in  patenting  those 
lands  and  when  they  act  in  conformity  to  the  regal  author- 
ity of  Great  Britain  it  will  be  soon  enough  for  us  to  obey 
them.  It  is  well  known  by  all  wise  and  sensible  persons 
in  the  neighboring  governments  (that  have  animadverted 
on  the  controversy)  that  their  pretended  zeal  for  good 
order  and  government  is  fallacious  and  that  they  aim  at 
the  lands  and  labors  of  the  grantees  and  settlers  aforesaid ; 
and  that  they  subvert  the  good  and  wholesome  laws  of  the 
realm  to  corroborate  with  and  bring  about  their  vile  and 
mercenary  purposes. 

And,  inasmuch  as  the  malignity  of  their  disposition 
towards  us  hath  flamed  to  an  immeasurable  and  murder- 
ous degree,  they  have  in  their  new  fangled  laws,  calculated 
for  the  meridian  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  passed  the 
9th  of  March,  1774,  so  calculated  them  as  to  correspond 
with  the  depravedness  of  their  minds  and  morals; — in 
these  laws  they  have  exhibited  their  genuine  pictures. 
The  emblems  of  their  insatiable,  avaricious,  over-bearing, 
inhuman,  barbarous  and  blood-guiltiness  of  disposition 
and  intention  are  therein  portrayed  in  that  transparent 
image  of  themselves  which  cannot  fail  to  be  a  blot  and  an 
infamous  reproach  to  them,  to  posterity.  We  cannot  sup- 
pose that  every  one  of  his  Majesty's  Council  or  that  all  the 
members  of  the  General  Assembly  were  active  in  passing 
so  bloody  and  unconstitutional  a  set  of  laws.  Undoubt- 
edly some  of  them  disapproved  thereof,  and  it  is  altogether 
possible  that  many  who  were  active  in  making  the  law  were 
imposed  upon  by  false  representations,  and  acted  under 
mistaken  views  of  doing  honor  to  the  government ;  but  be 
this  as  it  will,  it  appears  that  there  was  a  majority ,  and 


62      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

it  has  been  too  much  the  case  with  the  government  for  a 
number  of  designing  schemers  and  land  jockeys  to  rule  the 
same.  Let  us  take  a  view  of  their  former  narrow  and  cir- 
cumscribed boundaries,  and  how,  by  that  legerdemain, 
bribery  and  deceptions  of  one  sort  or  other,  they  have  ex- 
tended their  domain  far  and  wide.  They  have  wrangled 
with  and  encroached  upon  their  neighboring  governments 
and  have  used  all  manner  of  deceit  and  fraud  to  accom- 
plish their  designs;  their  tenants  groan  under  their  usury 
and  oppression;  and  they  have  gained,  as  well  as  merited, 
the  disapprobation  and  abhorrence  of  their  neighbors ;  and 
the  innocent  blood  they  have  already  shed  calls  for 
heaven's  vengeance  on  their  heads;  and  if  they  should 
come  forth  in  arms  against  us,  thousands  of  their  injured 
and  dissatisfied  neighbors  in  the  several  governments  will 
join  with  us  to  cut  off  and  extirpate  such  an  execrable 
race  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  This  remontrance  is  not 
supposed  to  contain  a  full  answer  to  the  newly  constructed 
laws  aforesaid,  for  such  a  large  two  year  old  hath  never 
been  before  seen  in  America,  it  being  of  an  enormous  and 
monstrous  birth;  nor  is  it  supposed  to  give  the  legislators 
their  full  characters,  but  so  much  may  suffice  for  the  pres- 
ent. To  quote  the  laws  and  make  remarks  thereon  would 
be  matter  sufficient  for  a  volume;  however,  we  will  yet 
make  some  short  observations : 

1st.  Negatively,  it  is  not  a  law  for  the  Province  of 
New  York  in  general,  but 

2d.  Positively  it  is  a  law  but  for  part  of  the  counties 
of  Charlotte  and  Albany,  viz. :  such  parts  thereof  as  are 
covered  with  the  New  Hampshire  charters;  and  it  is  well 
known  these  grants  compose  but  a  minor  part  of  the  in- 


KINO    GEORGE   I7L 


Defying  the  Authorities.  63 

habitants  of  said  Province ;  and  we  have  no  representative 
in  that  assembly.  The  first  knowledge  we  had  of  said 
laws  was  the  completion  of  them  which  informed  us  that 
if  we  assembled,  three*  or  "more  of  us  together,  to  oppose 
(that  which  they  call  legal)  authority  we  shall  be  adjudged 
felons  and  suffer  the  pains  of  death;  and  that  same  fra- 
ternity of  plotters  knew,  as  well  as  we,  and  the  generality 
of  the  people  in  the  adjacent  colonies,  that  they  have  for 
a  number  of  years  last  past  endeavored  to  exercise  such  a 
course  of  what  they  call  law,  that  had  they  not  been  op- 
posed by  the  people  of  these  grants  (called  the  Mob)  in 
executing  the  same,  they  would,  before  this  time,  have 
been  in  possession  of  that  territory  for  which  the  laws 
aforesaid  are  calculated.  Therefore  the  case  stands  thus: 
If  we  oppose  the  civil  officers  in  taking  possession  of  our 
farms,  we  are  by  these  laws  denominated  felons;  or  if  we 
defend  our  neighbors  who  have  been  indicted  rioters,  only 
for  defending  our  property;  we  are  likewise  adjudged 
felons.  In  fine,  every  opposition  to  their  monarchical 
government  is  deemed  felony  and  at  the  end  of  every  sen- 
tence there  is  the  word  Death !  And  the  same  laws  further 
empowered  the  respective  judges,  provided  any  persons 
to  the  number  of  three  or  more,  that  shall  oppose  any 
Magistrate  or  other  civil  officer,  and  be  not  taken,  that 
after  a  legal  warning  of  seventy  days,  if  they  do  not  come 
and  yield  themselves  up  to  certain  officers  appointed  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  them,  then  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
the  judges  aforesaid  to  award  execution  of  Death,  the 
same  as  though  he  or  they  had  been  convicted  or  attainted 
before  a  proper  court  of  judicature,  etc.  The  candid 
reader  will  doubtless  observe  that  the  diabolical  design  of 


64      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

this  law  is  to  obtain  possession  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants  or  to  make  the  people  that  defend  them 
outlaws,  and  so  kill  them  whenever  they  can  catch 
them. 

Those  bloody  law-givers  know  we  are  necessitated  to 
oppose  their  execution  of  law,  where  it  points  directly  at 
our  property,  or  give  up  the  same;  but  there  is  one  thing 
that  is  a  matter  of  consolation  to  us,  viz.,  that  printed 
sentences  of  death  will  not  kill  us  when  we  are  at  a  distance, 
and  if  the  executioners  approach  us  they  will  be  as  likely 
to  fall  victims  to  death  as  we ;  and  that  persons,  or  country 
of  persons  are  cowards  indeed  if  they  cannot,  as  manfully, 
fight  for  their  liberty,  property  and  lives  as  villains  can  do 
to  deprive  them  thereof. 

The  New  York  schemers  accuse  us  of  many  things, 
part  of  which  are  true,  and  part  not.  With  respect  to 
rescuing  prisoners  for  debt,  it  is  false.  As  to  assuming 
judicial  powers  we  have  not,  except  a  well  regulated  com- 
bination of  the  people  to  defend  their  just  rights  may  be 
called  so.  As  to  forming  ourselves  into  military  order  and 
assuming  military  commands,  the  New  York  posses,  and 
military  preparations,  oppressions  etc.,  obliged  us  to  do 
it.  Probably  Messrs.  Duane  and  Kemp  and  Banyar,  of 
New  York,  will  not  discommend  us  for  so  expedient  a  prep- 
aration, more  especially  since  the  decrees  of  the  9th  of 
March  are  yet  to  be  put  in  execution,  and  we  flatter  our- 
selves, upon  occasion  we  can  muster  as  good  a  regiment  of 
marksmen  and  scalpers  as  America  can  afford ;  and  we  now 
give  the  gentlemen  above  named,  together  with  Mr.  Brush 
and  Col.  Ten  Broeck,  and  in  fine,  all  the  land  jobbers  of 
New  York,  an  invitation  to  come  and  view  the  dexterity 


Defying  the  Authorities.  65 

of  our  regiment ;  and  we  cannot  think  of  a  better  time  for 
that  purpose  than  when  the  executioners  come  to  kill  us, 
by  virtue  of  the  authority  their  judges  have  lately  received 
to  award  and  sentence  us  to  death  in  our  absence.  There 
is  still  one  more  notable  complaint  against  us,  viz.,  that 
we  had  insulted  and  menaced  several  magistrates  and 
other  civil  officers  so  that  they  dare  not  execute  their  re- 
spective functions.  This  is  true  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the 
magistrates.  But  the  public  should  be  informed  what  the 
functions  of  these  magistrates  are:  They  are  commis- 
sioned for  the  sole  purpose  of  doing  us  all  the  harm  and 
mischief  they  possibly  can,  through  their  administration 
and  influence;  and  that  they  might  be  subservient  to  the 
wicked  designs  of  the  New  York  schemers.  These  are 
their  functions ;  and  the  public  needs  no  further  proof  than 
the  consideration  that  they  are  the  tools  of  those  extrava- 
gant law-makers;  and  it  must  be  owned  they  acted  with 
great  judgment  in  choosing  the  most  infernal  instruments 
for  their  purposes. 

Draco,  the  Athenian  law-giver,  caused  a  number  of 
laws  (in  many  respects  analogous  to  those  we  have  been 
speaking  of)  to  be  written  in  blood.  But  our  modern 
Dracos  determine  to  have  theirs  verified  in  blood.  They 
well  know  we  shall,  more  than  three,  nay,  more  than  three 
hundred  times  three,  assemble  together,  if  need  be,  to 
maintain  our  common  cause,  till  his  Majesty  determines 
who  shall  be  and  remain  the  owners  of  the  land  in  contest. 
"Wilt  not  thou  possess  that  which  Chemoth,  thy  God, 
giveth  thee  to  possess?"  So  will  we  possess  that  which 
the  Lord  our  God  (and  King)  giveth  us  to  possess. 

And  lastly,  we  address  ourselves  to  the  people  of  the 


66      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

counties  of  Albany  and  Charlotte,  which  inhabit  to  the 
westward  of  and  are  situated  contiguous  to,  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants. 

GENTLEMEN,  FRIENDS  AND  NEIGHBORS: 

Providence  having  allotted  and  fixed  the  bounds  of 
our  habitations  in  the  same  vicinity,  which  together  with 
the  intercourse  of  trade  and  commerce,  hath  formed  an 
almost  universal  acquaintance  and  tie  of  friendship  be- 
tween us,  and  hath  laid  such  a  foundation  of  knowledge 
that  your  people,  in  general,  cannot  but  be  sensible  that 
the  title  of  our  land  is,  in  reality  the  bone  of  contention; 
and  that  as  a  people  we  behave  ourselves  orderly  and  are 
industrious  and  honestly  disposed;  and  pay  just  deference 
to  order  and  good  government ;  and  that  we  mean  no  more 
by  that  which  is  called  the  Mob  but  to  defend  our  just 
rights  and  property.  We  appeal  to  the  gentlemen  mer- 
chants to  inform  us  whether  our  people  in  general,  do  not 
exert  themselves  to  pay  their  just  debts;  and  whether  they 
have  been  hindered  by  the  country's  Mob  in  the  collection 
of  their  dues.  But  as  the  magistrates,  sheriffs,  under 
sheriffs,  coroners  and  constables  of  the  respective  counties, 
that  hold  their  posts  of  honor  and  profit  under  our  bitter 
enemies,  we  have  a  jealousy  that  some  of  them  may  be  in- 
duced (to  recommend  themselves  to  those  on  whom  they 
are  dependent,  and  for  the  wages  of  unrighteousness,  offer- 
ed by  proclamation)  to  presume  to  apprehend  some  of  us, 
or  our  friends.  We  therefore  advertise  such  officers  and 
all  persons  whatsoever,  that  we  are  resolved  to  inflict  im- 
mediate death  on  whomsoever  may  attempt  the  same. 
And  provided  any  of  us  or  our  party  shall  be  taken  and 


Defying  the  Authorities.  67 

we  have  not  notice  sufficient  to  relieve  them,  or  whether 
we  relieve  them  or  not,  we  are  resolved  to  surround  such 
person  or  persons,  whether  at  his  or  their  own  house  or 
houses,  or  anywhere  that  we  can  find  him  or  them,  and 
shoot  such  person  or  persons  dead.  And  furthermore 
that  we  will  kill  and  destroy  any  person  or  persons  whom- 
soever that  shall  presume  to  be  accessory,  aiding  or  as- 
sisting in  taking  any  of  us  as  aforesaid ;  for  by  these  pres- 
ents we  give  any  such  disposed  person  or  persons  to  un- 
derstand that  although  they  have  a  license  by  the  law 
aforesaid,  to  kill  us,  and  an  indemnification  for  such  mur- 
der, from  the  same  authority;  yet  they  have  no  indemni- 
fication for  so  doing  from  the  Green  Mountain  Boys;  forour 
lives,  liberties  and  properties  are  as  verily  precious  to  us 
as  to  any.  of  the  king's  subjects;  and  we  are  as  loyal  to  his 
Majesty  or  his  government  as  any  subjects  in  the  Province: 
but  if  the  governmental  authority  of  New  York  will  judge 
in  their  own  case,  and  act  in  opposition  to  that  of  Great 
Britain,  and  insist  upon  killing  us,  to  take  possession  of 
our  "vineyards" — come  on,  we  are  ready  for  a  game  of 
scalping  with  them ;  for  our  martial  spirits  glow  with  bitter 
indignation  and  consummate  fury  to  blast  their  infernal 
projections. 

It  may  be,  the  reader,  not  having  seen  the  law 
referred  to  in  this  remonstrance  and  not  being  thor- 
oughly acquainted  with  the  long  and  spirited  conflict 
that  hath  subsisted  between  the  claimants  under  New 
Hampshire  and  New  York,  nor  of  the  progressive  arbi- 
trary and  monopolizing  disposition  of  the  court  party  of 
the  latter  of  those  Provinces,  may  be  apt  to  imagine 
that  the  spirit  of  this  writing  is  too  severe,  inasmuch 


68     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

as  it  destines  whoever  presumes  to  take  us  as  felons  or 
rioters,  to  immediate  death;  but  let  the  wise  consider  the 
state  of  the  case. 

1.  Provided  we  on  our  part  be  taken,  we  have  by  their 
laws,  the  sentence  of  death  already  pronounced  against 
us,  on  proviso  that  more  than  three  of  us  assemble  to- 
gether to   maintain  and  defend  our  property,   till  his 
Majesty  determines  the  controversy;  and — 

2.  If  it  be  considered,  that  the  legislative  authority 
of  the  Province  of  New  York  has  no  constitutional  right 
or  power  to  make  such  laws;  and  consequently  that 
they  are  null  and  void  from  the  nature  and  energy  of  the 
English  constitution;  therefore  as  they  merit  no  place 
among  the  laws  of  the  realm  of  Great  Britain,  but  are 
the  arbitrary  league  and  combination  of  our  bitter  and 
merciless    enemies,  who  to  obtain  our  property,  have 
inhumanly,    barbarously    and    maliciously,    under    the 
specious   and   hypocritical   pretense   of  legal   authority 
and  veneration  for  order  and  government,  laid  a  snare 
for  our  lives;  can  the  public  censure  us  for  exerting  our- 
selves nervously  to  preserve  our  lives  in  so  critical  a 
situation?     For,  by  the  laws  of  the  Province  into  which 
we   are   unfortunately  fallen,   we  cannot  be  protected 
in  either  property  or  life,  except  we  give  up  the  former 
to  secure  the  latter;  so  we  are  resolved  to  maintain  both, 
or  to  hazard  or  lose  both. 

From  hence  follows  a  necessary  inference.  That 
inasmuch  as  our  property,  nay,  our  lives,  cannot  be 
protected  (but  manifestly  struck  at)  by  the  highest 
authority  in  the  Province  to  which  we  at  present  belong, 
therefore,  in  the  interim,  while  his  Majesty  is  determining 


Defying  the  Authorities.  69 

the  controversy,  and  till  he  shall  interpose  his  royal 
authority,  and  subject  the  authority  aforesaid  to  their 
duty,  or  re-annex  the  district  of  disputed  lands  to  the 
Province  of  New  Hampshire,  in  his  great  wisdom  and 
fatherly  clemency,  put  the  distressed  settlers  under 
New  Hampshire  on  an  equal  footing  with  our  brother- 
subjects  in  his  realm,  we  are  under  necessity  of  resisting, 
even  unto  blood,  every  person  who  may  attempt  to 
take  us  as  felons  or  rioters  as  aforesaid;  for  in  this  case 
it  is  not  resisting  law,  but  only  opposing  force  by  force; 
therefore  inasmuch  as  by  the  oppression  aforesaid 
the  New  Hampshire  settlers  are  reduced  to  the  disagree- 
able state  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  in  which  state  we 
hope  for  wisdom,  patience  and  fortitude,  till  the  happy 
hour  his  Majesty  shall  graciously  be  pleased  to  restore 
us  to  the  privileges  of  Englishmen. 
Signed  by 

ETHAN  ALLEN, 
SETH  WARNER, 
REMEMBER  BAKER, 
ROBERT  COCHRAN, 
PELEG  SUNDERLAND, 
JOHN  SMITH, 
SILVANUS  BROWN. 
BENNINGTON,  April  26,  1774. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BEGINNINGS   OF   THE    REVOLUTION. 

The  seeds  of  disunion,  sown  by  the  unwise  policy  of 
the  British  Ministry,  urged  on  by  the  king's  advisers  in 
America,  were  at  this  advanced  state  of  the  controversy 
between  New  York  and  the  New  Hampshire  Grants  rapidly 
springing  into  life.  The  oppressive  measures  of  Great  Britain 
— the  attempt  to  burden  the  Colonists  with  the  system  of 
unequal  taxation — aroused  a  spirit  among  them,  indica- 
tive of  a  sanguinary  struggle,  which  could  have  but  one 
termination — war — with  all  of  its  attending  horrors. 
So  threatening  was  the  aspect  of  affairs  that  preparatory 
measures  were  taken  for  convening  a  Continental 
Congress;  and  Delegates  were  accordingly  chosen 
from  the  twelve  Colonies  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  on 
the  5th  day  of  Sepetmber,  1774.  New  Hampshire  sub- 
sequently sent  delegates  to  the  Convention  which  also 
met  in  Philadelphia  when  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence was  adopted  July  4,  1776. 

This  important  step  towards  an  organization  of  the 
political  power  of  the  colonies  was  followed,  as  may 
naturally  be  imagined  by  an  almost  total  suspension 
of  royal  authority.  The  courts  of  justice,  either  ad- 
journed or  concluded  to  go  out  of  business,  and  every 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  King's  officers  to  extend 
their  authority  over  the  people  was  followed  by  a  strong 

70 


Beginnings  of  the  Revolution.  71 

and  decided  opposition.  The  first  interruption  of  this 
kind  occured  at  Westminster,  in  the  county  of  Cumber- 
land, in  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  over  which  the 
jurisdiction  of  New  York  had  been  extended.  The 
occurrence  is  fully  described  in  the  following  document : 
"A  RELATION  OF  THE  PROCEEDING  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE 

COUNTY  OF  CUMBERLAND,  PROVINCE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

"In  June,  1774,  some  letters  came  to  the  supervisors 
of  said  county  from  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  at 
New  York  signed  by  their  chairman,  Mr.  Low;  which 
letters,  said  supervisors,  through  ignorance  or  intention, 
kept  until  September,  when  they  had  another  meeting; 
and  it  is  supposed  that  they  intended  always  to  have 
kept  them,  and  the  good  people  would  have  remained 
in  ignorance  about  them  until  this  time,  had  it  not  been 
by  accident  that  it  was  whispered  abroad  so  that  Dr. 
Reuben  Jones,  of  Rockingham,  and  Capt.  Azaria  Wright, 
of  Westminster,  heard  of  it  and  took  proper  care  to  notify 
those  towns.  A  meeting  was  called  in  the  two  towns 
aforesaid  and  a  committee  was  chosen  by  each  town,  to 
wait  on  the  supervisors  at  their  meeting  in  September,  to 
see  if  there  were  any  papers  that  should  be  laid  before 
the  several  towns  in  the  county;  and  they  found  that 
there  were  papers  come  from  the  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence, that  should  have  been  laid  before  the  towns 
in  June.  The  supervisors  made  many  excuses  for  their 
conduct ;  some  pled  ignorance,  and  some  one  thing  and 
some  another;  but  the  most  of  them  did  seem  to  think 
that  they  could  send  a  return  to  the  committee  at  New 
York  without  ever  laying  them  before  their  constituents, 
which  principle  at  this  day  so  much  prevails  that  it  is 


72      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

the  undoing  of  the  people.  Men  at  this  day  are  so  un- 
fortunately tainted  with  the  principles  of  tyranny  that 
they  would  fain  believe  that  as  they  are  chosen  by  the 
people  to  any  kind  of  office,  for  any  particular  thing,  that 
they  have  the  sole  power  of  that  people  by  whom  they 
are  chosen  and  can  act  in  the  name  of  that  people  in  any 
matter  or  thing,  though  it  is  not  in  any  connection  with 
what  they  were  chosen  for.  But  the  committees  would 
not  consent  to  have  a  return  made  until  every  town  in 
the  county  had  Mr.  Low's  letters  laid  before  them;  which 
was  done  and  a  County  Congress  was  called;  return  was 
made,  a  committee  was  chosen  to  see  that  it  was  put  in 
print;  but  through  interest  or  otherwise,  it  was  never 
published  in  any  of  the  papers. 

Immediately  after,  the  people  of  the  county  aforesaid 
received  the  resolves  of  the  Continental  Congress.  They 
called  a  County  Congress,  and  did  adopt  all  the  resolves 
of  the  Continental  Congress  at  their  resolves,  promising 
religiously  to  adhere  to  that  agreement  or  association. 
There  was  a  Committee  of  Inspection  moved  for,  to  be 
chosen  by  the  county,  according  to  the  second  resolve  of 
the  association  aforesaid;  but  being  much  spoken  against 
by  a  justice  and  an  attorney  and  looked  upon  by  them  as 
an  impertinent  thing,  the  delegates  dared  not  to  choose 
one.  At  this  time  there  were  tory  parties  forming,  al- 
though they  were  under  disguise,  and  had  laid  a  plan  to 
bring  the  lower  sort  of  the  people  into  a  state  of  bondage 
and  slavery.  They  saw  that  there  was  no  cash  stirring 
and  they  took  that  opportunity  to  collect  debts,  know- 
ing that  men  had  no  other  way  to  pay  them  than  by  hav- 
ing their  estates  taken  by  execution  and  sold  at  vendue. 


Beginnings  of  the  Revolution.  *73 

There  were  but  very  few  men  among  us  that  were  able  to 
buy;  and  those  men  among  us  that  were  so  disposed,  that 
they  would  take  all  the  world  into  their  own  hands  with- 
out paying  anything  for  it,  if  they  could,  by  law;  which 
would  soon  bring  the  country  into  slavery.  Most,  or  all 
of  our  men  in  authority,  and  all  that  wanted  court  favors 
seemed  much  enraged  and  stirred  up  many  vexatious 
lawsuits  and  imprisoned  many,  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
this  Province,  and  the  statutes  of  the  -Crown.  One 
man  they  put  into  close  prison  for  high  treason,  and  all 
that  they  proved  against  him  was  that  he  said  if  the  king 
had  signed  the  Quebec  bill,  it  was  his  opinion  that  he  had 
broken  his  coronation  oath.  But  the  good  people  went 
and  opened  the  prison  door  and  let  him  go  and  did  no 
violence  to  any  man's  person  or  property.  Our  men  in 
office  would  say  that  they  did  like  the  resolutions  of  the 
Continental  Congress  and  they  ought  to  be  strictly  ad- 
hered to  until  our  General  Assembly  voted  against  them. 
Then  they  said  that  this  would  do  for  the  Bay-Province, 
but  it  was  childish  for  us  to  pay  any  regard  to  them. 
Some  of  our  court  would  boldly  say  that  the  king  had  a 
just  right  to  make  the  revenue-acts,  for  he  had  a  supreme 
power ;  and  he  that  said  otherwise  was  guilty  of  high  trea- 
son, and  they  did  hope  that  they  would  be  executed  ac- 
cordingly. The  people  were  of  opinion  that  such  men 
were  not  suitable  to  rule  over  them,  and  as  the  general 
assembly  of  this  Province  would  not  accede  to  the  asso- 
ciation of  the  Continental  Congress,  the  good  people  were 
of  the  opinion  that  if  they  did  accede  to  any  power  from 
or  under  them  they  should  be  guilty  of  the  breach  of  the 
4th  article  of  that  association  and  may  justly  be  dealt 


74      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

with,  accordingly,  by  all  America.  When  the  good  people 
considered  that  the  general  assembly  were  for  bringing 
them  into  a  state  of  slavery  (which  did  appear  plain  by 
their  not  acceding  to  the  best  method  to  procure  their 
liberties,  and  the  executive  power  so  strongly  acquiescing 
in  all  that  they  did,  whether  it  was  right  or  wrong)  the 
good  people  of  said  county  thought  it  time  to  look  to 
themselves.  And  they  thought  that  it  was  dangerous  to 
trust  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  the  hands  of  such  enemies 
to  American  liberty,  but  more  particularly  unreasonable 
that  there  should  be  any  court  held,  since  thereby  we 
must  accede  to  what  our  General  Assembly  had  done  in 
not  acceding  to  what  the  whole  continent  had  recom- 
mended ;  and  that  all  America  would  break  off  all  dealings 
and  commerce  with  us,  and  bring  us  into  a  state  of  slavery 
at  once.  Therefore  in  duty  to  God,  ourselves  and  pos- 
terity, we  thought  ourselves  under  the  strongest  obli- 
gations to  resist  and  to  oppose  all  authority  that  would 
not  accede  to  the  resolves  of  the  Continental  Congress. 
But  knowing  that  many  of  our  court  were  men  that 
neither  feared  or  regarded  men,  but  thought  it  was  most 
prudent  to  go  and  persuade  the  judges  to  stay  at  home. 
Accordingly  there  were  about  forty  good,  true  men  who 
went  from  Rockingham  to  Chester,  to  dissuade  Colonel 
Chandler,  the  chief  judge,  from  attending  court.  He  said 
he  believed  it  would  be  for  the  good  of  the  county  not  to 
have  any  court  as  things  were,  but  there  was  one  case  of 
murder  that  they  must  see  to,  and  if  it  was  not  agreeable 
to  the  people,  they  would  not  have  any  other  case.  One 
of  the  committee  told  him  that  the  sheriff  would  raise  a 
number  with  arms  and  that  there  would  be  bloodshed. 


Beginnings  of  the  Revolution.  75 

The  Colonel  said  that  he  would  give  his  word  of  honor 
that  there  should  not  be  any  arms  brought  against  us ;  and 
he  would  go  down  to  court  on  Monday  the  13th  of  March, 
inst.,  which  was  the  day  that  the  court  was  to  be  opened. 
We  told  him  that  we  would  wait  on  him  if  it  was  his  will. 
He  said  that  our  company  would  be  very  agreeable;  like- 
wise he  returned  us  his  hearty  thanks  for  our  civility,  and 
so  we  parted  with  him.  We  heard  from  the  southern 
part  of  the  state  that  Judge  Sabin  was  very  earnest  to 
have  the  law  go  on,  as  well  as  many  petty  officers.  There 
were  but  two  judges  in  the  county  at  that  time,  Col. 
Wells  being  gone  to  New  York.  There  was  a  great  deal 
of  talk  in  what  manner  to  stop  the  court  and  at  length  it 
was  agreed  to  let  the  court  come  together,  and  lay  the 
reasons  we  had  against  their  proceeding  before  them, 
thinking  they  were  men  of  such  sense  that  they  would 
hear  them.  But  on  Friday  we  heard  that  the  court  was 
going  to  take  possession  of  the  house  on  the  13th  inst.  and 
to  keep  a  strong  guard  at  the  doors  of  said  house,  that  we 
could  not  come  in.  We  being  justly  alarmed  at  the 
deceit  of  our  court,  though  it  was  not  strange,  therefore 
we  thought  proper  to  get  to  court  before  the  armed 
guards  were  placed;  for  we  were  determined  that  our 
grievances  should  be  laid  before  the  court,  before  it  was 
opened.  On  Monday  the  13th  of  March  there  were 
about  100  of  us  entered  the  court  house  about  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  But  we  had  but  just  entered  before  we 
were  alarmed  by  a  large  number  of  men,  armed  with  guns, 
swords,  and  pistols.  But  we  in  the  house  had  not  any 
weapons  of  war  among  us  and  were  determined  that  they 
should  not  come  in  with  their  weapons  of  war,  except  by 


76      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

force  of  them.  Squire  Patterson  came  up  at  the  head  of 
his  armed  company,  within  about  five  yards  of  the  door, 
and  commanded  us  to  disperse ;  to  which  he  got  no  answer. 
He  then  caused  the  king's  Proclamation  to  be  read,  and 
told  us  that  if  we  did  not  disperse  in  fifteen  minutes,  by 
G — d  he  would  blow  a  lane  through  us.  We  told  him 
that  we  would  not  disperse.  We  told  them  that  they 
might  come  in  if  they  would  unarm  themselves,  but  not 
without.  One  of  our  men  went  out  at  the  door  and  asked 
them  if  they  were  come  for  war;  told  them  that  we  were 
come  for  peace  and  that  we  should  be  glad  to  hold  a  parley 
with  them.  At  that,  Mr.  Gale,  the  clerk  of  the  court, 
drew  a  pistol,  held  it  up  and  said,  "  D — n  the  parley  with 
such  d — d  rascals  as  you  are;  I  will  hold  no  parley  with 
such  d — d  rascals  but  by  this!"  (holding  up  his  pistol.) 
They  gave  us  very  harsh  language,  told  us  we  should  be 
in  h —  before  morning;  but  after  a  little  while  they  drew 
a  little  off  from  the  house  and  seemed  to  be  in  consultation. 
Three  of  us  went  out  to  treat  with  them,  but  the  most  or 
all  that  we  could  get  from  them  was  that  they  would  not 
talk  with  such  d — d  rascals  "as  we  were;  and  we  soon 
returned  to  the  house  and  they  soon  went  off. 

Colonel  Chandler  came  in  and  we  laid  the  case  before 
him  and  told  him  that  we  had  his  word  that  there  should 
not  be  any  arms  brought  against  us.  He  said  that  the 
arms  were  brought  without  his  consent,  but  he  would  go 
and  take  them  away  from  them,  and  we  should  enjoy  the 
house  undisturbed  until  morning;  and  that  the  court 
should  come  in  the  morning  without  arms,  and  should 
hear  what  we  had  to  lay  before  them,  and  then  he  went 
away.  We  then  went  out  of  the  house  and  choose  a 


Beginnings  of  the  Revolution.  77 

committee  which  drew  up  articles  to  stand  for,  and  read 
them  to  the  company ;  and  they  all  voted  nemine 
contradicente  [nobody  disagreeing]  and  some  of  our  men 
went  to  the  neighbors  and  as  many  as  the  court  and  their 
party  saw,  they  bound. 

About  midnight,  or  a  little  before,  the  sentry  at  the 
door  espied  some  men  with  guns  and  he  gave  the  word 
to  man  the  doors,  and  the  walk  was  crowded.  Immedi- 
ately the  sheriff  and  his  company  marched  up  fast,  within 
about  ten  rods  of  the  door,  and  then  the  word  was  given, 
"Take Aim!"  and  then,  "Fire!"  Three  fired  immediately. 
The  word  fire  was  repeated;  "G — d  d — n  you,  fire;  send 
them  to  h— ! "  were  the  most  or  all  of  the  words  that  were 
to  be  heard  for  some  time;  on  which  there  were  several 
men  wounded;  one  was  shot  with  four  bullets,  one  of 
which  went  through  his  brain,  of  which  wound  he  died 
next  day.  Then  they  rushed  in  with  their  guns,  swords, 
and  clubs  and  did  most  cruelly  bruise  several  more  and 
took  some  that  were  not  wounded,  and  those  that  were 
and  crowded  them  into  close  prison  together,  and  told 
them  that  they  should  all  be  in  h —  before  the  next  night, 
and  that  they  did  wish  there  were  forty  more  in  the  same 
case  with  that  dying  man.  When  they  put  him  into 
prison  then  took  and  dragged  him  as  one  would  a  dog, 
and  would  mock  him  as  he  lay  gasping,  and  make  sport 
for  themselves  at  his  dying  motions.  The  people  that 
escaped  took  prudent  care  to  notify  the  people  in  the 
country,  and  also  in  the  government  of  New  Hampshire 
and  the  Bay,  which,  being  justly  alarmed  at  such  an 
unheard  of  and  aggravated  piece  of  murder,  did  kindly 
interpose  in  our  favor. 


78      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

On  Tuesday,  the  14th  inst.,  about  12  o'clock,  nearly 
200  men,  well  armed  came  from  New  Hampshire  govern- 
ment, and  before  night  there  were  several  of  the  people 
of  Cumberland  county  returned,  and  took  up  all  they 
knew  of  that  were  in  the  horrid  massacre  and  confined 
them  under  a  strong  guard;  afterwards  they  con- 
fined as  many  as  they  could  get  evidence  against,  except 
several  that  did  escape  for  their  lives.  On  the  15th  inst., 
the  body  formed  chose  a  moderator  and  clerk,  and  chose 
a  committee  to  see  that  the  coroner's  jury  of  inquest 
were  just,  impartial  men;  which  jury  on  their  oath  did 
bring  in,  that  "  W.  Patterson,  etc.,  did  on  the  13th  day  of 
March,  by  force  and  arms,  make  an  assault  on  the  body 
of  one  William  French  then  and  there,  and  shot  him 
through  the  head  with  a  bullet,  of  which  wound  he  died, 
and  not  other  wise."  Then  the  criminals  were  confined  in 
close  prisons  and  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  and 
early  the  next  morning,  a  large  number  came  from 
the  southern  part  of  the  county  of  Cumberland  and 
the  Bay  Province.  It  is  computed  that  in  the  whole 
there  were  500  good,  martial  soldiers,  well  equipped  for 
war,  that  had  gathered.  On  the  16th  inst.,  the  body 
assembled,  but  being  so  numerous  they  could  not  do 
business,  there  was  a  vote  passed  to  choose  a  large  com- 
mittee to  represent  the  whole  and  that  this  committee 
should  consist  of  men  who  did  not  belong  to  the  county 
of  Cumberland,  as  well  as  those  that  did  belong  thereto; 
which  was  done.  After  the  most  critical  and  impartial 
examination  of  evidence,  voted,  that  the  leaders  of  them 
should  be  confined  in  Northampton  jail  till  they  could 
have  a  fair  trial,  and  those  that  did  not  appear  so  guilty 


Beginnings  of  the  Revolution.  Y9 

should  be  under  bonds,  holden  to  answer  at  the  next  court 
of  oyer  and  terminer  in  the  county  aforesaid;  which  was 
agreed  to.  On  the  17th  inst.  bonds  were  taken  for  those 
that  were  to  be  bound,  and  the  rest  set  out  under  a  strong 
guard  for  Northampton. 

We,  the  committee  aforesaid,  embrace  this  opportu- 
nity to  return  our  most  grateful  acknowledgments  and 
sincere  thanks  to  our  truly  wise  and  patriotic  friends  in 
the  government  of  New  Hampshire  and  the  Massachusetts 
Bay,  for  their  kind  and  benevolent  interposition  in  our 
favor  at  such  a  time  of  distress  and  confusion  aforesaid; 
strongly  assuring  them  that  we  shall  always  be  ready  for 
their  aid  and  assistance,  if  by  the  dispensation  of  divine 
providence,  we  are  called  thereto. 

Signed,  by  order  of  the  Committee : 

REUBEN  JONES,  Clerk. 

CUMBERLAND  COUNTY,  March  23,  1775. 

The  effect  of  this  massacre,  as  it  was  termed,  was 
electrical  upon  the  people  of  Cumberland,  and  in  fact 
upon  the  whole  mass  of  settlers  on  the  New  Hampshire 
Grants.  The  opposition  to  the  claims  of  New  York  had 
thus  far  mostly  been  confined  to  the  inhabitants  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Green  Mountains — a  majority  of  the 
grantees  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Connecticut  River  having 
surrendered  their  original  charters,  taken  new  grants  under 
New  York  and  quietly  submitted  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
that  Colony.  They  entered  fully,  however,  into  the  spirit 
which  pervaded  the  people  of  the  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  in  relation  to  the  oppressive  policy  of  Great 
Britain  towards  her  American  Colonies.  This  state  of 


80      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

public  sentiment  together  with  the  fact  that  the  Provin- 
cial Assembly  of  New  York  had  withheld  its  approbation 
from  the  political  measures  recommended  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  and  which  had  received  the  sanction  of 
every  other  colony,  induced  them  to  an  open  resistance 
to  the  administration  of  New  York.  In  pursuance  of 
this  determination,  a  meeting  of  a  large  body  of  people 
was  held  at  Westminster  on  the  llth  of  April,  1775,  at 
which  the  following  measures  were  adopted : 

1.  Voted,  that  Major  Abijah  Lovejoy  be  the  Moderator 
of  this  meeting. 

2.  Voted  that  Dr.  Reuben  Jones  be  the  Clerk. 

3.  Voted,  as  our  opinion,  That  our  inhabitants  are 
in  great  danger  of  having  their  property  unjustly,  cruelly 
and  unconstitutionally  taken  from  them,  by  the  arbitrary 
and  designing  administration  of  the  government  of  New 
York;  sundry  instances  having  already  taken  place. 

4.  Voted,  as  our  opinion,  That   the   lives    of   those 
inhabitants    are    in    the    utmost  hazard  and  imminent 
danger,  under  the  present  administration.     Witness  the 
malicious  and  horrid  massacre  of  the  night  of  the  13th 
ult. 

5.  Voted,  as  our  opinion,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  said 
inhabitants,  as  predicated  on  the  eternal  and  immutable 
law  of  self-preservation,  to  wholly  renounce  and  resist  the 
administration  of  the  government  of  New  York,  till  such 
time  as  the  lives  and  property  of  those  inhabitants  may 
be  secured  by  it ;  or  till  such  time  as  they  can  have  oppor- 
tunity to  lay  their  grievances  before  his  most  gracious 
Majesty  in  council,  together  with  proper  remonstrances 
against  the  unjustifiable  conduct  of  that  government, 


Beginnings  of  the  Revolution.  81 

with  an  humble  petition  to  be  taken  out  of  so  oppressive 
a  jurisdiction  and  either  annexed  to  some  other  govern- 
ment, or  erected  and  incorporated  into  a  new  one,  as  may 
appear  best  to  the  said  inhabitants,  to  the  royal  wisdom 
and  clemency,  and  till  such  time  as  his  Majesty  shall  settle 
this  controversy. 

6.  Voted,  That  Colonel  Ethan  Allen,  Colonel  John 
Hazeltine,  and  Charles  Phelps,  Esquire,  be  a  Committee 
to  prepare  such  remonstrance  and  petition  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid. 

In  this  situation  of  affairs,  the  people  of  Vermont  were 
electrified  by  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  between 
America  and  Great  Britain,  at  Lexington,  on  the  memorable 
19th  of  April,  1775.  This  exciting  prelude  to  an  eventful 
drama,  produced  a  startling  effect  from  one  extremity  of 
the  Colonies  to  the  other.  "Local  and  Provincial  con- 
tests, were  at  once, "  says  Williams,  in  his  History  of 
Vermont,  "swallowed  up  by  the  novelty,  the  grandeur  and 
the  importance  of  the  contest  thus  opened." 

Although  the  settlers  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants 
yielded  to  the  importance  of  the  American  cause,  and  used 
their  endeavors  to  assist  in  carrying  into  effect  the  meas- 
ures agreed  upon  by  the  sister  Colonies,  yet  they  did  not 
relax  their  exertions  to  improve  their  internal  condition 
and  substantiate  the  righteousness  and  justness  of  their 
proceedings  in  regard  to  the  claims  of  New  York.  To  a 
firm  adherence  to  their  primary  position,  and  to  their 
patriotic  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  common  cause  may 
be  attributed  the  no  small  amount  of  trouble  they  after- 
wards experienced  in  obtaining  an  amicable  and  satis- 
factory settlement  of  their  difficulties  with  the  Congress 


82      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

when  the  three  delegates,  Josiah  Bartlett,William  Whipple 
and  Matthew  Thornton,  were  admitted  as  members  to  its 
deliberations,  affixing  their  names  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  July  4,  1776,  as  delegates  from  New  Hamp- 
shire. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CAPTURE  OP  FORT  TICONDEROGA. 

The  period  at  which  we  have  now  arrived  in  the  life  of 
Ethan  Allen,  places  him  before  the  reader  in  a  broader 
and  far  more  interesting  position.  Heretofore  he  has 
been  seen  only  as  the  zealous  friend  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  resided — only  as  the  champion  of  the  humble 
citizen,  contending  for  the  rights  of  property  and  human 
justice.  In  these  offices  of  friendship  and  duty,  however, 
he  had  rendered  himself  conspicuous  and  trustworthy.  He 
had  evinced  a  spirit  of  patriotism  and  a  love  of  freedom 
which  warmly  recommended  him  to  the  confidence,  the 
esteem  and  the  friendship  of  the  most  conspicuous  advo- 
cates of  American  liberty — Washington,  Adams,  Lee, 
Hancock,  Jefferson.  That  he  should  have  been  selected, 
therefore,  as  a  leader  in  a  measure  fraught  with  important 
incidents  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  is  a  reward  due  both  to 
his  patriotic  principles  and  important  public  services. 

Soon  after  the  result  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  was 
known,  instructions  were  sent  to  Allen  from  the  General 
Assembly  of  Connecticut  to  enlist  a  body  of  the  settlers 
on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  and,  if  it  were  thought 
possible,  to  surprise  and  take  the  British  fortress  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  at  the  lower  end  of  Lake  Champlain.  This  en- 
terprise was  cheerfully  undertaken  by  him.  A  goodly 
number  of  men  were  speedily  enrolled,  and  preparations 

83 


84      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

hastily  made  for  the  attack.  The  several  passes  leading 
to  the  fortress  were  carefully  guarded  and  all  communica- 
tion between  the  garrison  and  the  adjoining  country  inter- 
cepted. By  a  forced  march  Allen  arrived  at  Lake  Cham- 
plain  opposite  Ticonderoga  on  the  evening  of  the  9th  of 
May,  1775,  with  two  hundred  and  thirty  brave  Green 
Mountain  Boys.  Considerable  difficulty  was  experienced 
in  procuring  boats  to  cross  the  lake.  This  difficulty, 
however,  was  partially  overcome  at  last  and  eighty-three 
were  landed  near  the  garrison  and  the  boats  sent  back  for 
the  rear  guard,  commanded  by  Colonel  Seth  Warner. 
As  the  day  began  to  dawn,  Allen  found  himself  compelled 
to  attack  the  enemy  before  the  arrival  of  Colonel  War- 
ner's detachment.  As  this,  says  Allen  in  his  narrative, 
was  viewed  as  hazardous,  I  harangued  the  officers  and 
soldiers  in  the  following  manner : 

Friends  and  fellow  soldiers:  You  have  for  a  number 
of  years  past  been  a  scourge  and  terror  to  arbitrary 
power.  Your  valor  has  been  famed  abroad,  and  acknowl- 
edged, as  appears  by  the  advice  and  orders  to  me  from  the 
General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  to  surprise  and  take 
the  garrison  now  before  us.  I  now  propose  to  advance 
before  you,  and  in  person  conduct  you  through  the 
wicket-gate;  for  we  must,  this  morning,  either  quit  our 
pretensions  to  valor  or  possess  ourselves  of  this  fortress 
in  a  few  minutes.  And  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  desperate 
attempt,  which  none  but  the  bravest  of  men  dare  under- 
take, I  do  not  urge  it  on  any  one  contrary  to  his  will.  You 
that  will  undertake,  voluntarily,  poise  your  firelocks. 

As  might  be  conjectured,  among  such  a  body  of  hardy 
and  fearless  men,  the  musket  of  every  one  was  brought 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.          85 

to  a  poise.  Allen,  with  his  men  immediately  advanced 
to  the  wicket-gate  where  a  sentry  was  found  posted  who 
snapped  his  musket  at  him,  and  immediately  retreated 
through  the  covered  way  into  the  parade  grounds  within 
the  garrison,  gave  the  alarm  and  then  sought  safety  be- 
hind a  stone  wall.  Allen  rushed  in  immediately,  followed 
by  his  men,  whom  he  formed  on  the  parade  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  faced  the  two  barracks  which  were 
opposite  each  other.  The  garrison  being  asleep,  except 
the  sentries,  three  loud  shouts  were  given  by  Allen  and 
his  men,  very  much  to  the  surprise  of  the  sentinels.  One 
of  the  sentries  made  a  pass  at  one  of  the  American  officers 
with  a  bayonet,  and  slightly  wounded  him.  My  first 
thought,  says  Allen,  was  to  kill  him  with  my  sword,  but 
in  an  instant  I  altered  the  design  and  fury  of  the  blow  to 
a  slight  cut  on  the  side  of  the  head  upon  which  he  dropped 
his  gun  and  asked  for  quarter  which  I  readily  granted 
him,  and  demanded  of  him  the  place  where  the  command- 
ing officer  could  be  found.  He  showed  me  a  pair  of  stairs 
in  the  front  of  the  barracks  on  the  west  part  of  the  garrison 
which  led  up  to  a  second  story  in  said  barrack,  to  which  I 
immediately  repaired  and  ordered  the  commander, 
Captain  de  la  Place,  to  come  forth  instantly  or  I  would 
sacrifice  the  whole  garrison;  the  Captain  came  imme- 
diately to  a  door  with  his  small  clothes  in  his  hand.  When 
I  ordered  him  to  deliver  me  the  fort  instantly,  he  asked 
me  by  what  authority  I  demanded  it.  I  answered  him: 
In  the  name  of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Continental 
Congress!  The  authority  of  the  Congress  being  very 
little  known  at  that  time,  he  began  to  speak  again,  but  I 
interrupted  him  and  with  my  drawn  sword  over  his  head 


86     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

again  demanded  an  immediate  surrender  of  the  garrison, 
with  which  he  then  complied  and  ordered  his  men  to  be 
forthwith  paraded  without  arms  as  he  had  given  up  the 
garrison.  In  the  mean  time  some  of  my  officers  had  given 
orders,  and  in  consequence  thereof  sundry  of  the  barrack's 
doors  were  beaten  down  and  about  one-third  of  the 
garrison  imprisoned,  which  consisted  of  the  commander, 
a  Lieutenant  Feltham,  a  conductor  of  artillery,  a  gunner, 
two  sergeants  and  forty  rank  and  file,  together  with 
about  one  hundred  pieces  of  cannon,  one  thirteen-inch 
mortar,  and  a  number  of  swivels.  This  surprise  was 
carried  into  execution  in  the  gray  of  the  morning  of  the 
10th  of  May,  1775.  The  sun,  continues  Allen,  seemed  to  rise 
that  morning  with  a  superior  luster  and  Ticonderoga  and 
its  dependencies  smiled  on  its  conquerors  who  tossed 
about  the  flowing  bowl  and  wished  success  to  Congress 
and  the  liberty  and  freedom  of  America. 

Colonel  Warner,  with  the  rear  guard,  crossed  the 
lake  and  joined  the  conquerors  early  in  the  morning; 
shortly  thereafter  Warner  was  dispatched  with  about 
one  hundred  men  to  take  possession  of  Crown  Point, 
which  was  garrisoned  with  only  a  sergeant  and  twelve 
men. 

This  was  effected  the  same  day  and  about  one  hun- 
dred pieces  of  cannon  together  with  other  munitions 
of  war  were  secured.  Only  one  thing  now  remained 
to  be  done  in  order  to  obtain  the  control  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain;  this  was  to  capture  a  sloop  of  war  which  was  then 
lying  at  St.  Johns,  to  effect  which  it  was  agreed  in  a 
council  of  war  to  arm  and  man  a  certain  schooner  lying 
at  South  Bay  and  place,  Captain  afterwards  General, 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.          87 

Benedict  Arnold  in  command,  while  Allen  was  to  com- 
mand the  smaller  boats.  The  necessary  preparations 
being  made,  they  set  sail  from  Ticonderoga  in  quest 
of  the  sloop  which  was  much  larger  and  carried  more 
and  heavier  guns  than  the  schooner.  The  schooner, 
sailing  much  more  rapidly  than  the  bateaux,  arrived  at 
St.  Johns  and  Arnold  possessed  himself  of  the  sloop 
before  the  arrival  of  Allen.  He  also  captured  a  sergeant 
and  twelve  men  who  were  stationed  at  that  place.  It 
is  also  worthy  of  notice  that  as  soon  as  General  Arnold 
had  secured  the  prisoners  on  board  and  made  preparations 
for  sailing,  the  wind,  which  but  a  few  hours  before  was 
fresh  from  the  South  and  well  served  to  carry  them  to 
St.  Johns,  now  shifted  and  came  fresh  from  the  North, 
and  in  about  an  hour  thereafter,  General  Arnold 
sailed  with  the  prize  and  schooner  for  Ticonderoga. 
He  was  met  by  Allen  within  a  few  miles  of  St.  Johns  and 
saluted  with  a  discharge  of  cannon,  which  was  returned 
with  a  volley  of  "small  arms."  After  several  repetitions 
of  this  compliment,  Allen  and  his  officers  went  on  board 
the  sloop,  where  several  loyal  healths  were  drunk  to  the 
Congress. 

The  result  of  this  victory  was  of  great  import- 
ance to  the  American  cause,  as  it  utterly  destroyed 
the  military  force  of  the  British  upon  Lake  Champlain 
and  strengthened  the  cause  of  the  patriots  among  the 
colonists.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Americans  em- 
barked in  the  cause  of  freedom  with  many  misgivings. 
They  were  well  aware  of  their  own  weakness  and  they 
were  equally  apprised  of  the  gigantic  power  with  which 
they  had  to  contend.  The  capture,  therefore,  of  so 


88      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

strong  and  well  fortified  a  fortress  as  Ticonderoga, 
resulting  in  the  entire  overthrow  of  the  British  power 
on  Lake  Champlain,  tended  to  raise  their  depressed 
spirits  and  create  a  confidence  among  them  which  was 
of  vast  importance  to  the  cause.  First  results,  whether 
favorable  or  the  reverse,  exercise  a  powerful  influence 
upon  succeeding  incidents,  and  in  proportion  to  their 
importance  are  their  effects  to  be  considered. 

Commenting  upon  the  success  which  attended  the 
attack  upon  Ticonderoga  and  the  expedition  to  St.  Johns, 
Allen  remarks  in  his  Narrative:  This  success  I  viewed 
as  of  consequence  in  the  scale  of  American  politics,  for  if 
a  settlement  between  the  then  Colonies  of  Great  Britain 
had  soon  taken  place,  it  would  have  been  easy  to  have 
restored  these  acquisitions,  but  in  viewing  the  then 
future  consequences  of  a  civil  war,  as  it  has  already 
proved  to  be,  and  the  command  of  that  Lake,  garrisons, 
artillery,  etc.,  it  must  be  viewed  to  be  of  signal  import- 
ance to  the  American  cause,  and  it  is  marvelous  to  me 
that  we  ever  lost  the  command  of  it.  Nothing  but  tak- 
ing a  Burgoyne  with  a  whole  British  army,  could  in  my 
opinion,  atone  for  it;  and  notwithstanding  such  an 
extraordinary  victory,  we  must  be  obliged  to  regain 
the  command  of  that  lake  again,  be  the  cost  what  it 
will.  By  doing  this,  Canada  will  easily  be  brought 
into  union  and  confederacy  with  the  United  States  oi 
America.  Such  an  event  would  put  it  out  of  the  power 
of  the  Western  tribes  of  Indians  to  carry  on  a  war  with 
us  and  be  a  solid  and  durable  bar  against  any  farther 
inhuman  barbarities  committed  on  our  frontier  inhabit- 
ants by  cruel  and  blood-thirsty  savages,  for  it  is  impos- 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.         89 

sible  to  carry  on  a  war  except  they  are  supported  by 
the  trade  and  commerce  of  some  civilized  nation,  which, 
to  them  would  be  impracticable,  did  Canada  compose 
a  part  of  the  American  Empire.  Had  Allen's  plans 
been  successful,  Canada  might  now  be  divided  into  im- 
portant and  populous  states  with  representation  at 
Washington,  instead  of  being  a  dependency  of  Great 
Britain. 

Early  in  the  ensuing  fall,  the  American  army,  under 
the  command  of  Generals  Schuyler  and  Montgomery, 
received  orders  to  advance  into  Canada.  Allen  was 
at  Ticonderoga  when  this  order  arrived.  He  received 
pressing  requests  from  Montgomery  and  a  majority  of 
the  field  officers  to  accompany  the  expedition — it  being 
stipulated  that,  although  he  held  no  regular  commis- 
sion from  Congress,  he  should  be  considered  as  an  of- 
ficer and  as  occasion  might  require,  command  certain 
detachments  of  the  army.  This  being  considered  by 
him  an  honorable  offer,  and  having  a  desire  to  assist 
to  the  extent  of  his  ability  in  any  expedition  having 
for  its  object  the  good  of  the  country,  he  complied  with 
the  requests  and  advanced  northward  with  the  army 
to  Isle  aux  Noix.  From  this  place  he  was  ordered,  by 
Schuyler,  to  accompany  Major  Brown  and  certain  inter- 
preters through  the  woods  into  Canada  with  letters  to 
the  Canadians,  informing  them  that  the  design  of  the 
army  was  only  against  the  English  garrisons,  and  not 
the  country,  their  liberties  or  their  religion.  Having, 
with  much  difficulty,  arranged  this  business  Allen  re- 
turned to  Isle  aux  Noix  early  in  September. 

General   Schuyler   having   returned   to   Albany,   the 


90     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

command  devolved  upon  General  Montgomery,  from 
whom  Allen  soon  after  received  orders  to  make  a  second 
tour  of  Canada  for  the  purpose  of  observing  the  sit- 
uation there  and  communicating  to  him  the  designs  and 
movements  of  the  inhabitants  as  well  as  the  British. 
This  journey  was  undertaken  with  reluctance  by  Allen, 
who  chose  rather  to  assist  at  the  siege  of  St.  Johns,  which 
was  then  entirely  surrounded ;  but  his  esteem,  he  says,  for 
the  General's  person  and  opinion  of  him  as  a  politician 
induced  him  to  proceed  to  Canada  at  once. 

The  route  taken  by  Allen  led  him  through  all  the 
parishes  on  the  river  Sorrel  to  a  town  at  its  mouth  bear- 
ing the  same  name.  The  inhabitants  were  addressed 
by  him  upon  the  policy  of  General  Montgomery  in  be- 
sieging St.  Johns  and  every  argument  used  to  quiet 
their  fears  and  enlist  their  support  in  behalf  of  the  Amer- 
icans. From  the  village  of  Sorrel  he  directed  his  course 
to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  thence  through  the  many 
small  settlements  to  Longueil,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
22d  of  September.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  Can- 
adian guard,  an  interpreter,  and  a  few  American  attend- 
ants. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  September  he  left 
Longueil,  with  a  guard  of  about  eighty  men,  for  La  Prairie, 
from  whence  it  was  his  determination  to  proceed  directly 
to  General  Montgomery's  camp  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 
He  had  advanced  about  two  miles,  however,  when  he 
met  Major  Brown,  who  informed  him  that  he  had  im- 
portant intelligence  to  communicate,  the  import  of  which 
was  that,  provided  Allen  would  return  to  Longueil  and 
procure  a  few  canoes  to  enable  the  party  to  effect  a  pass- 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.         91 

age  across  the  St.  Lawrence  a  short  distance  below 
Montreal,  he  (Major  Brown)  would  cross  the  river  above 
the  town  with  two  hundred  men,  as  he  had  a  sufficient 
number  of  boats — and  thus  effect  the  capture  of  Mont- 
real. This  plan,  although  somewhat  chimerical  and 
ill-planned,  was  readily  approved  by  Allen  and  those 
in  council;  in  consequence  of  which  they  immediately 
returned  to  Longueil,  collected  a  few  canoes,  and  after 
adding  about  thirty  men  to  the  party,  crossed  the  river 
on  the  night  of  the  24th,  agreeable  to  the  proposed  plan. 
The  whole  effective  force  of  Allen  consisted  of  only  one 
hundred  and  ten  men,  about  eighty  of  whom  were  Can- 
adians. We  were  most  of  the  night,  says  Allen,  in 
crossing  the  river,  as  we  had  so  few  canoes  that  they  had 
to  pass  and  repass  three  times  to  carry  my  party  across. 
Soon  after  day-break  I  set  a  guard  between  me  and  the 
town  with  special  orders  to  let  no  person  pass  or  repass 
them,  and  another  guard  at  the  other  end  of  the  road 
with  like  directions.  In  the  mean  time  I  reconnoitered 
the  best  ground  to  make  a  defence — expecting  Major 
Brown's  party  was  landed  on  the  other  side  of  the  town, 
he  having,  the  day  before,  agreed  to  give  three  huzzas 
with  his  men  early  in  the  morning,  which  signal  I  was  to 
return,  that  we  might  know  that  both  parties  were  landed. 
But  the  sun,  by  this  time,  being  near  two  hours  high, 
and  the  sign  failing,  I  began  to  conclude  myself  to  be  in 
a  sad  dilemma  and  would  have  crossed  the  river  back 
again,  but  I  knew  the  enemy  would  discover  such  an 
attempt,  and  as  there  could  not  more  than  one  third 
part  of  my  troops  cross  at  one  time,  the  other  two  thirds 
would  of  course,  fall  into  their  hands.  This  I  could 


92      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

not  reconcile  to  my  own  feelings  as  a  man,  much  less 
as  an  officer.  I  therefore  concluded  to  maintain  the 
ground,  if  possible,  and  share  the  fate  of  the  others. 
In  consequence  of  this  resolution,  I  despatched  two 
messengers — one  to  La  Prairie  to  Major  Brown  and 
the  other  to  L'Assomption,  a  French  settlement,  to  a 
Mr.  Walker,  who  was  in  our  interest,  requesting  speedy 
assistance,  giving  them  at  the  same  time  to  understand 
my  critical  situation.  In  the  meantime  sundry  persons 
came  to  my  guards,  pretending  to  be  friends,  who  were 
by  them  taken  prisoners  and  brought  to  me.  These  I 
ordered  to  confinement  until  their  friendship  could 
be  farther  confirmed  for  I  was  jealous  they  were  spies, 
as  they  proved  to  be  afterwards.  One  of  the  principal 
of  them,  making  his  escape,  exposed  the  weakness  of 
my  party,  which  was  the  final  cause  of  my  misfortune, 
for  I  have  since  been  informed  that  Mr.  Walker,  agree- 
ably to  desire,  exerted  himself  and  raised  a  considerable 
number  of  men  for  my  assistance,  but,  -hearing  of  my 
misfortune,  he  disbanded  them. 

The  news  of  the  arrival  of  Allen  and  his  followers 
created  much  excitement  and  alarm  in  and  about  Mont- 
real. General  Carlton  and  the  royal  party  with  him  made 
every  preparation  to  go  on  board  their  armed  vessels,  and 
would  probably  have  done  so  had  they  not  been  influenced 
by  the  information  received  from  the  spy,  who  made  his 
escape  from  the  Americans.  This  occasioned  an  altera- 
tion in  their  determination  and  resulted  in  General  Carlton 
sending  an  armed  force  against  the  invaders.  Allen  had 
previously  chosen  his  ground,  but  when  he  saw  the  number 
of  the  enemy  as  they  sallied  out  of  the  town,  he  saw 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.          OS 

that  it  would  be  a  day  of  trouble  if  not  of  rebuke.  But, 
pays  he,  I  had  no  chance  to  flee,  as  Montreal  is  situated  on 
an  island,  and  the  river  St.  Lawrence  cut  off  my  communi- 
cation with  General  Montgomery's  camp.  I  encouraged 
my  soldiery  to  bravely  defend  themselves — observing 
that  we  should  soon  have  help,  and  that  we  should  be  able 
to  keep  the  ground,  if  no  more.  This,  and  much  more,  I 
affirmed  with  the  greatest  seeming  assurance  and  which 
in  reality  I  thought  to  be  in  some  degree  probable. 

The  enemy  consisted  of  not  more  than  forty  regular 
troops  together  with  a  mixed  multitude,  chiefly  Canadians, 
with  a  number  of  English  who  lived  in  the  town,  and  a 
few  Indians,  in  all,  amounting  to  about  five  hundred  men. 
The  reader  will  notice  that  a  majority  of  my  party  were 
Canadians.  Indeed,  it  was  a  motley  parcel  of  soldiery 
which  composed  both  parties.  However,  the  enemy 
began  the  attack  from  woodpiles,  ditches,  buildings  and 
such  like  places,  at  a  considerable  distance  and  I  returned 
them  from  a  situation  more  than  equally  advantageous. 
The  attack  began  between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  just  before  which  I  ordered  a  volunteer  by  the 
name  of  Richard  Young,  with  a  detatchment  of  nine  men, 
as  a  flank  guard,  to  annoy  the  enemy  under  cover  of  the 
bank  of  the  river  and  at  the  same  time  to  serve  as  flank 
guard  to  the  left  wing  of  the  main  body. 

The  fire  continued  for  some  time  on  both  sides,  but  I 
was  confident  that  such  a  remote  method  of  attack  could 
not  carry  the  ground,  provided  it  even  continued  until 
night.  But  about  half  the  body  of  the  enemy  began  to 
flank  round  to  my  right,  upon  which  I  ordered  a  volunteer 
by  the  name  of  John  Dugan,  who  had  lived  many  years 


94      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

in  Canada  and  understood  the  French  language,  to  detach 
about  fifty  of  the  Canadians  and  post  himself  in  an  advan- 
tageous ditch  which  was  on  my  right,  to  prevent  my 
being  surrounded.  He  advanced  with  the  detachment 
but  instead  of  occupying  the  post,  made  his  escape  as 
did  likewise,  Mr.  Young,  upon  the  left  with  their  detach- 
ments. I  soon  perceived  that  the  enemy  was  in  possession 
of  the  ground  which  Dugan  should  have  occupied.  At 
this  time  I  had  but  about  forty-five  men  with  me,  some 
of  whom  were  wounded.  The  enemy  continued  to  close 
around  me;  nor  was  it  in  my  power  to  prevent  it;  by 
which  means  my  situation,  if  advantageous  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  attack,  ceased  to  be  so  at  its  close.  Being 
almost  entirely  surrounded  by  such  unequal  numbers,  I 
ordered  a  retreat,  but  found  that  those  of  the  enemy  who 
were  of  the  country,  and  their  Indians  could  run  as  fast 
as  my  men,  though  the  regulars  could  not.  Thus  I  re- 
treated nearly  a  mile,  and  some  of  the  enemy,  with  the 
savages,  were  continually  flanking  me,  and  others  crowding 
hard  in  the  rear.  In  short,  I  expected,  in  a  very  short 
time,  to  try  the  world  of  spirits;  for  I  was  apprehensive 
that  no  quarter  would  be  given  to  me,  and  therefore,  I  had 
determined  to  sell  my  life  as  dearly  as  I  could. 

One  of  the  enemy's  officers,  boldly  pressing  in  the  rear, 
discharged  his  fusee  at  me.  The  ball  whistled  near  me,  as 
did  many  others  that  day.  I  returned  the  salute  but 
missed  him,  as  running  had  put  us  both  nearly  out  of 
breath,  for  I  conclude  we  were  not  frightened.  I  then 
saluted  him  with  my  tongue  in  a  harsh  manner  and  told 
him  that  inasmuch  as  his  numbers  were  so  far  superior 
to  mine,  I  would  surrender,  provided  I  could  be  treated 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.          95 

with  honor,  and  be  assured  of  good  quarter  for  myself  and 
the  men  who  were  with  me.  He  answered  that  I  should. 
Another  officer  coming  up  soon  after,  confirmed  the  treaty 
upon  which  I  agreed  to  surrender  with  my  party,  which 
then  consisted  of  thirty-one  effective  men,  and  some 
wounded.  I  ordered  them  to  ground  their  arms,  which 
they  did. 

The  officer  I  capitulated  to  then  directed  me  and  my 
party  to  advance  towards  him,  which  was  done.  I  handed 
him  my  sword,  and  in  half  a  minute  after,  a  savage,  part 
of  whose  head  was  shaved,  being  almost  naked  and  painted, 
with  feathers  intermixed  with  the  hair  on  the  other  side 
of  his  head,  came  running  towards  me  with  incredible 
swiftness.  He  seemed  to  advance  with  more  than  mortal 
speed.  As  he  approached  near  me,  his  hellish  visage  was 
beyond  all  description.  Snakes'  eyes  appear  innocent  in 
comparison  with  his.  His  features  were  distorted,  and 
malice,  death  and  murder  were  depicted  upon  his  counte- 
nance; and,  when  within  less  than  twelve  feet  of  me, 
presented  his  musket.  At  the  instant  of  his  presenting,  I 
twitched  the  officer  to  whom  I  gave  my  sword,  between 
myself  and  him.  He  flew  round  with  great  fury,  trying 
to  single  me  out  to  shoot  me  without  killing  the  officer, 
but  by  this  time  I  was  nearly  as  nimble  as  he — keeping  the 
officer  in  such  a  position  that  his  danger  was  my  defence. 
In  less  than  a  minute  afterwards,  I  was  attacked  by  just 
such  another  imp.  I  then  made  the  officer  fly  around  with 
incredible  swiftness.  One  of  the  Canadians  lost  an  eye, 
as  it  appeared  afterwards,  in  taking  my  part;  and  soon 
after  an  Irishman  came  to  my  assistance  with  a  fixed 
bayonet,  and  drove  away  the  savages,  swearing  that  he 


96     Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

would  kill  them.  This  tragic  scene  composed  my  mind. 
The  escape  from  so  awful  a  death  made  even  imprison- 
ment happy,  the  more  so  as  my  conquerors  on  the  field 
treated  me  with  great  civility  and  politeness. 

The  regular  officers  said  they  were  very  happy  to  see 
Colonel  Allen.  I  answered  them  that  I  should  rather 
chosen  to  have  seen  them  at  General  Montgomery's 
camp.  They  replied  that  they  gave  full  credit  to  what  I 
said;  and  I  walked  into  the  town,  which  was,  as  I  should 
think,  a  distance  of  more  than  two  miles — a  British  officer 
walking  at  my  right  hand  and  one  of  the  French  noblesse 
at  my  left.  The  latter  was  in  the  action  and  had  his  brow 
carried  away  by  a  glancing  shot,  but  was,  nevertheless, 
very  facetious.  No  abuse  was  offered  me,  until  I  came 
to  the  barrack  yard,  where  I  met  General  Orescott,  who 
asked  me  my  name,  which  I  told  him.  He  then  asked  me 
whether  I  was  the  Colonel  Allen  who  took  Ticonderoga. 
I  told  him  I  was  the  very  man.  He  then  shook  his  cane 
over  my  head  calling  me  many  hard  names;  among 
which  he  frequently  used  the  word  rebel  and  put  himself 
in  a  great  rage.  I  told  him  he  would  do  well  not  to  cane 
me,  as  I  was  not  accustomed  to  it,  and  shook  my  fist  at  him, 
telling  him  that  that  was  the  beetle  of  mortality  for  him, 
if  he  offered  to  strike;  upon  which  Captain  McCloud,  of 
the  British,  pulled  him  by  the  coat  and  whispered  to  him, 
as  he  afterwards  told  me,  to  the  import  that  it  would 
be  inconsistent  with  his  honor  to  strike  a  prisoner.  He 
then  ordered  a  sergeant's  command,  with  fixed  bayonets, 
to  come  forward  and  kill  thirteen  Canadians,  which  were 
included  in  the  treaty  aforesaid.  It  cut  me  to  the  heart 
to  see  the  Canadians  in  so  hard  a  case,  in  consequence  of 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.         97 

their  having  been  true  to  me;  they  were  wringing  their 
hands,  saying  their  prayers,  as  I  concluded  and  expected 
immediate  death.  I  therefore  stepped  between  the  exe- 
cutioners and  the  Canadians,  opened  my  clothes  and  told 
General  Prescott  to  thrust  his  bayonet  into  my  breast  for 
I  was  the  sole  cause  of  the  Canadians  taking  up  arms. 

The  guards,  in  the  meantime,  were  rolling  their  eye- 
balls from  the  General  to  me,  as  though  impatiently 
waiting  his  dread  commands  to  sheath  their  bayonets  in 
my  heart.  I  could,  however,  plainly  discern  that  he  was 
in  a  suspense  and  quandary  about  the  matter.  This  gave 
me  additional  hopes  of  succeeding,  for  my  design  was  not 
to  die,  but  to  save  the  Canadians  by  a  finesse.  The  Gen- 
eral stood  a  minute,  when  he  made  me  the  following  reply: 
"  I  will  not  execute  you  now  but  you  shall  grace  a  halter 
at  Tyburn,  G — d  d — n  you." 

I  remember  I  disdained  his  mentioning  such  a  place. 
I  was,  notwithstanding,  a  little  pleased  with  the  expres- 
sion, as  it  significantly  conveyed  to  me  the  idea  of  post- 
poning the  present  appearance  of  death;  besides  his 
sentence  was  by  no  means  final  as  to  gracing  a  halter, 
although  I  had  anxiety  about  it  after  I  landed  in  England. 

General  Prescott  then  ordered  one  of  his  officers  to 
take  me  on  board  the  Gaspee  schooner  of  war,  and  confine 
me,  hands  and  feet,  in  irons,  which  was  done  the  same 
afternoon  I  was  taken. 

The  action  continued  an  hour  and  three  quarters,  by 
the  watch,  and  I  know  not  to  this  day  how  many  of  my 
men  were  killed,  though  I  think  there  were  but  few;  if 
I  remember  right,  seven  were  wounded.  One  of  them, 
William  Stewart  by  name,  was  wounded  by  a  savage  with 


98      Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

a  tomahawk  after  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  disarmed, 
but  was  rescued  be  some  of  the  generous  enemy  and  so 
far  recovered  of  his  wounds  that  he  afterwards  went  with 
the  other  prisoners  to  England. 

Of  the  enemy  killed  was  a  Major  Garden,  who  had  been 
wounded  in  eleven  different  battles,  and  an  eminent 
merchant,  Patterson,  of  Montreal,  and  some  others;  but 
I  never  knew  their  loss,  as  their  accounts  were  different. 
I  am  apprehensive  that  it  is  rare  that  so  much  ammuni- 
tion was  expended,  and  so  little  execution  done  by  it, 
though  such  of  my  party  as  stood  their  ground  behaved 
with  great  fortitude,  much  exceeding  that  of  the  enemy, 
but  were  not  the  best  of  marksmen  and  I  am  apprehensive 
were  all  killed  or  taken;  the  wounded  were  all  put  into 
the  hospital  at  Montreal,  and  those  who  were  not,  were 
put  on  board  of  different  vessels  in  the  river  and  shackled 
together  by  pairs,  viz.,  two  men  fastened  together  by  one 
handcuff  being  closely  fixed  to  one  wrist  of  each  of 
them,  and  treated  with  the  greatest  severity,  nay,  as 
criminals. 

Now  as  to  the  description  of  the  irons  that  were  put 
on  me.  The  hand-cuff  was  of  a  common  size  and  form, 
but  my  leg  irons,  .1  should  imagine,  would  weigh  forty 
pounds.  The  bar  was  eight  feet  long  and  very  substantial; 
the  shackles,  which  encompassed  my  ankles  were  very 
tight.  I  was  told  by  the  officer  who  put  them  on  that  it 
was  the  King's  plate,  and  I  heard  another  of  their  officers 
say  that  it  too  would  weigh  forty-weight.  The  irons  were  so 
close  upon  my  ankles  that  I  could  not  lie  down  in  any 
other  manner  than  on  my  back.  I  was  put  into  the 
lowest  and  most  wretched  part  of  the  vessel,  where  I  got 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.          99 

the  favor  of  a  chest  to  sit  on;  the  same  answered  for  my 
bed  at  night,  and  having  procured  some  little  blocks  of 
the  guard,  who  day  and  night  with  fixed  bayonets, 
watched  over  me,  to  lie  under  each  end  of  the  large  bar 
of  my  leg-irons  to  preserve  my  ankles  from  galling,  while 
I  sat  on  the  chest  or  lay  back  on  the  same,  though  most  of 
the  time,  night  and  day,  I  sat  on  it ;  but  at  length,  having  a 
desire  to  lie  down  on  my  side,  which  the  closeness  of  the 
irons  forbid,  I  desired  the  Captain  to  loosen  them  for  that 
purpose,  but  was  denied  the  favor.  The  Captain's  name 
was  Royal,  who  did  not  seem  to  be  an  ill-natured  man,  but 
oftentimes  said  that  his  express  orders  were  to  treat  me 
with  such  severity  which  was  disagreeable  to  his  own 
feelings;  nor  did  he  ever  insult  me,  though  many  others 
who  came  on  board  did.  One  of  the  officers  by  the  name 
of  Bradley  was  very  generous  to  me ;  he  would  often  send 
me  victuals  from  his  own  table,  nor  did  a  day  fail  but  he 
sent  me  a  good  drink  of  grog. 

The  reader  is  now  invited  back  to  the  time  I  was  put 
into  irons.  I  requested  the  privilege  to  write  to  General 
Prescott,  which  was  granted.  I  reminded  him  of  the  kind 
and  generous  manner  of  my  treatment  of  the  prisoners  I 
took  at  Ticonderoga;  the  injustice  and  ungentleman-like 
usage  which  I  had  met  with  from  him,  and  demanded 
gentleman-like  usage,  but  received  no  answer  from  him. 
I  soon  after  wrote  to  General  Carlton  which  met  the  same 
success.  In  the  meanwhile,  many  of  those  who  were 
permitted  to  see  me  were  very  insulting. 

I  was  confined  in  the  manner  I  have  related,  on  board 
the  Gaspee  schooner  for  about  six  weeks;  during  which 
time  I  was  obliged  to  throw  out  plenty  of  extravagant 


100    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

language  which  answered  certain  purposes  at  that  time 
better  than  to  grace  a  history. 

To  give  an  instance  upon  being  insulted,  in  a  fit  of 
anger,  I  twisted  off  a  nail  with  my  teeth  which  I  took  to 
be  a  ten-penny  nail;  it  went  through  the  mortice  of  the 
bar  of  my  hand-cuff,  and  at  the  same  time  I  swaggered 
over  those  who  abused  me,  particularly  a  Doctor  Dauce, 
who  told  me  that  I  was  outlawed  by  New  York  and  de- 
served death  for  several  years  past,  was  at  last  fully 
ripened  for  the  halter  and  in  a  fair  way  to  obtain  it.  When 
I  challenged  him,  he  excused  himself  in  consequence,  as  he 
said,  of  my  being  a  criminal;  but  I  flung  such  a  flood  of 
language  at  him  that  it  shocked  him  and  the  spectators, 
for  my  anger  was  very  great.  I  heard  one  say,  damn 
him,  can  he  eat  iron?  After  that  a  small  padlock  was 
fixed  to  the  hand-cuff  instead  of  the  nail,  and  as  they  were 
mean  spirited  in  their  treatment  of  me  so  it  appeared  to 
me,  that  they  were  equally  timorous  and  cowardly. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CARRIED  A  PRISONER  TO  ENGLAND. 

Colonel  Allen,  with  the  other  prisoners,  was  taken  to 
an  armed  vessel  which  was  lying  before  Quebec,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  McCloud  of  the  British  Admi- 
ralty, who  extended  toward  him  the  courtesy  due  from 
one  officer  to  another,  and  the  kindness  due  misfortune. 
The  next  day,  however,  he  apparently  with  reluctance 
bade  Allen  farewell,  but  his  good  fortune  still  continued. 
Captain  Little  John,  the  officer  to  whose  vessel  he  was 
transferred,  was  polite,  generous  and  friendly,  while  the 
under  officers  were  equally  as  kind  in  their  treatment  of 
him.  The  best  the  vessel  afforded  was  at  Allen's  dis- 
posal, and  what  was  equally  gratifying  to  his  feelings, 
he  was  permitted  to  occupy  comfortable  quarter  in  the 
cabin,  the  irons  having  been  removed.  Captain  Little- 
john  declared  that  a  brave  man  should  not  be  used  as 
a  rascal  on  board  his  ship. 

In  his  "Narrative,"  Allen  relates  the  following  inci- 
dent which  occurred  while  he  was  on  board  this  vessel 

> 

which  will  give  the  reader  an  insight  into  the  confidence 
entertained  by  the  commander  for  his  honor  and  upright- 
ness, and  also  to  show  his  willingness  at  any  time  and 
under  any  circumstances  to  brave  any  and  all  dangers. 
Captain  Little  John  used  to  go  to  Quebec  almost  every 

day,  in  order  to  pay  his  respects  to  certain  ladies  and  gent- 

101 


102    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

lemen;  being  there  on  a  certain  day  he  happened  to  meet 
with  some  disagreeable  treatment,  as  he  imagined,  from 
the  Lieutenant  of  a  man-of-war,  and  one  word  brought  on 
another,  until  the  Lieutenant  challenged  him  to  a  duel 
on  the  plains  of  Abraham.  Captain  Little  John  was  a 
gentleman  who  entertained  a  high  sense  of  honor  and 
could  do  no  less  than  accept  the  challenge.  They  were  to 
fight  at  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning.  The  Captain  re- 
turned in  the  evening  and  acquainted  his  Lieutenant  and 
Allen  with  the  affair.  His  Lieutenant  was  a  high  blooded 
Scotchman  as  well  as  himself,  who  replied  to  his  Captain 
that  he  should  not  want  for  a  second.  With  this,  says  Allen, 
I  interrupted  him  and  gave  the  Captain  to  understand  that 
since  an  opportunity  had  presented,  I  would  be  glad  to 
testify  my  gratitude  to  him,  by  acting  the  part  of  a  faithful 
second,  on  which  he  gave  me  his  hand  and  said  that  he 
wanted  no  better  man.  Says  he,  I  am  a  King's  officer 
and  you  a  prisoner  under  my  care;  you  must  therefore, 
go  with  me  to  the  place  appointed  under  disguise;  he 
further  added,  you  must  engage  me  upon  the  honor  of  a 
gentleman,  that  whether  I  die  or  live,  or  whatever  happens, 
provided  you  live,  that  you  will  return  to  my  Lieutenant, 
on  board  this  ship.  All  this  I  solemnly  promised  him. 
The  combatants  were  to  discharge  each  a  pocket  pistol 
and  then  to  fall  on  with  their  iron  hilted  muckle  whangers  ; 
and  one  of  that  sort  was  allotted  for  me;  but  some  British 
officers  who  interposed  early  in  the  morning  settled  the 
controversy  without  fighting 

After  enjoying  eight  or  nine  days  comparative  freedom 
from  the  polite  and  generous  treatment  of  Captain  Little- 
John  and  his  officers,  Allen  parted  with  them  in  a  friendly 


Carried  a  Prisoner  to  England.          103 

manner,  and  with  much  regret.  At  the  period  of  his  re- 
moval, a  detachment  from  the  army  under  General  Arnold 
appeared  at  Point  Levi  opposite  Quebec.  The  troops 
had  performed  an  extraordinary  march  through  the  wil- 
derness for  the  purpose  of  surprising  the  capital  city  of 
Canada;  to  this  fact  perhaps  is  to  be  attributed  Allen's 
change  of  quarters.  He  was  now  removed  to  a  vessel 
called  the  "Adamant"  together  with  the  other  American 
prisoners  and  put  under  the  guard  of  an  English  mer- 
chant from  London  named  Brook  Watson;  he  is  said  to 
have  been  of  a  malicious  and  cruel  disposition  and  easily 
excited  when  exercising  his  authority.  His  advisers 
were  Colonel  Guy  Johnson,  Colonel  Gloss  and  their  attend- 
ants and  associates,  to  the  number  of  about  thirty,  mostly 
tories.  The  ship's  crew,  however,  with  the  exception  of 
Colonel  Gloss,  in  his  personal  behavior,  treated  the  pris- 
oners with  that  spirit  of  bitterness,  which,  says  Allen,  is 
the  peculiar  characteristic  of  tories,  when  they  have  the 
friend  of  America  in  their  power — measuring  their  loyalty 
to  the  English  king  by  the  barbarity,  fraud  and  deceit 
which  they  exercise  towards  the  whigs. 

A  small  place  in  the  vessel  enclosed  with  rough  boards 
had  been  prepared  for  the  prisoners,  Allen  among  the 
rest — it  being  about  twenty  feet  one  way  and  twenty-two 
the  other.  Into  this  confined  place  they  were  all,  to  the 
number  of  thirty-four,  thrust  and  hand-cuffed.  In  this 
circumference,  we  were  obliged,  says  Allen,  to  eat  and 
sleep  during  the  voyage  to  England;  and  were  insulted 
by  every  blackguard  sailor  and  tory  on  board  in  the 
crudest  manner;  but  what  is  the  most  surprising,  not 
one  of  us  died  during  the  passage.  When  I  was  first 


104    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

ordered  to  go  into  the  filthy  enclosure,  through  a  small 
door,  I  positively  refused,  and  endeavored  to  reason  the 
before  named  Brook  Watson  out  of  a  conduct  so  deroga- 
tory to  every  sentiment  of  honor  and  humanity,  but  all 
to  no  purpose,  my  men  being  forced  into  the  den  already, 
the  rascal,  who  had  charge  of  the  prisoners,  commanded 
me  to  go  immediately  in  among  the  rest.  He  further 
added  that  the  place  was  good  enough  for  a  rebel — that 
it  was  impertinent  for  a  capital  offender  to  talk  of  honor 
or  humanity;  that  anything  short  of  a  halter  was  too 
good  for  me;  and  that  that  would  be  my  portion  soon 
after  I  landed  in  England  and  for  which  purpose  only  I  was 
sent  thither.  About  the  same  time  a  Lieutenant  among 
the  tories  insulted  me  in  a  grievous  manner,  saying  that 
I  ought  to  have  been  executed  for  my  rebellion  against 
New  York,  and  spit  in  my  face;  upon  which,  though  I 
was  hand-cuffed,  I  sprang  at  him,  with  both  hands  and 
knocked  him  partly  down,  but  he  scrambled  along  into 
the  cabin  and  I  after  him.  There  he  got  under  the  pro- 
tection of  some  men  with  fixed  bayonets,  who  were  orderd 
to  make  ready  to  drive  me  into  the  place  afore-mentioned, 
I  challenged  him  to  fight,  notwithstanding  the  impedi- 
ments that  were  on  my  hands,  and  had  the  exalted  pleasure 
to  see  the  rascal  tremble  for  fear;  his  name  I  have  for- 
gotten, but  Watson  ordered  his  guard  to  get  me  into  the 
place  with  the  other  prisoners,  dead  or  alive;  and  I  had 
almost  as  leave  die  as  do  it,  standing  out  till  they  sur- 
rounded me  with  bayonets — brutish,  prejudiced,  aban- 
doned wretches  they  were,  from  whom  I  could  expect 
nothing  but  death  or  wounds.  However,  I  told  them 
that  they  were  good  honest  fellows;  that  I  could  not  blame 


Carried  a  Prisoner  to  England.  105 

them;  that  I  was  only  in  dispute  with  a  calico  merchant, 
who  knew  not  how  to  behave  towards  a  gentleman  of  the 
military  establishment.  This  I  spoke  rather  to  appease 
them  for  my  own  preservation,  as  well  as  to  treat  Watson 
with  contempt;  but  still  I  found  that  they  were  deter- 
mined to  force  me  into  the  wretched  circumstances,  which 
their  prejudiced  and  depraved  minds  had  prepared  for  me. 
Therefore,  rather  than  die,  I  submitted  to  their  indignities, 
being  driven  with  bayonets  into  the  filthy  dungeon  with 
the  other  prisoners,  where  we  were  denied  fresh  water, 
except  a  small  allowance  which  was  very  inadequate  to 
our  wants;  and,  in  consequence  of  the  stench  of  the  place, 
each  of  us  was  soon  followed  with  a  dysentery  and  fever, 
which  occasioned  an  intolerable  thirst.  When  we  asked 
for  water  we  were  most  commonly,  instead  of  obtaining 
it,  insulted  and  derided;  and  to  add  to  all  the  horrors  of 
the  place,  it  was  so  dark  that  we  could  not  see  each  other, 
and  were  overspread  with  body  lice.  We  had,  notwith- 
standing these  severities  full  allowance  of  salt  provisions, 
and  a  gill  of  rum  per  day ;  the  latter  of  which  was  of  the 
utmost  service  to  us  and  probably  was  the  means  of 
saving  several  of  our  lives. 

About  forty  days  we  existed  in  this  manner,  when 
Land's  End,  England,  was  discovered  from  the  mast- 
head, soon  after  the  prisoners  were  taken  from  their 
gloomy  abode,  being  permitted  to  see  the  light  of  the  sun 
and  breathe  fresh  air,  which  to  us  was  very  refreshing. 
The  day  following  we  landed  at  Falmouth.  A  few  days 
before  I  was  taken  prisoner,  I  shifted  my  clothes,  in  which 
I  happened  to  be  taken;  a  Canadian  dress,  viz.,  a  short 
fawn  skin  jacket,  double  breasted,  an  under  vest  and 


106    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

breeches  of  sagathy,  worsted  stockings,  a  decent  pair  of 
shoes,  two  plain  shirts  and  a  red  worsted  cap.  This  was 
all  the  clothing  I  had,  in  which  I  made  my  appearance 
in  England.  The  landing  of  the  prisoners  at  Falmouth 
created  considerable  commotion  among  the  citizens  of  that 
place,  excited  as  they  were  by  the  report  that  the  con- 
queror of  Ticonderoga  was  among  them.  Numbers  of  the 
people  were  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses,  and  the  rising 
grounds  adjacent  were  covered  with  both  sexes.  The 
throng  was  so  great  that  the  King's  officers  were  obliged 
to  draw  their  swords  and  force  a  passage  to  Pendennis 
castle,  which  was  about  a  mile  from  the  town,  where  the 
prisoners,  upon  arrival,  were  closely  confined  in  conse- 
quence of  orders  from  General  Carlton  who  was  then  in 
command  of  the  English  forces  in  Canada. 

Brook  Watson,  who  had  so  shamefully  abused  and 
insulted  the  prisoners,  immediately  upon  landing,  started 
for  London,  expecting  to  receive  a  reward  for  his  inhu- 
manity; but  the  Ministry  received  him  with  contempt — 
the  whigs,  who  were  in  the  minority  in  Parliament, 
arguing  that  the  opposition  of  America  to  Great  Britain 
was  not  a  rebellion,  but  a  measure  justified  by  the  nu- 
merous evils  to  which  they  had  been  subjected  by  the 
oppressive  policy  of  the  Ministry.  This  was  the  position 
assumed  by  Pitt,  Burke  and  other  friends  of  America.  If 
it  be  a  rebellion,  they  urged,  why  do  you  not  execute 
Allen  according  to  law?  Why  not  give  him  an  impartial 
trial?  Why  destroy  his  life  by  a  course  of  slow  and 
humiliating  punishment?  The  majority  (the  Tories), 
maintained  that  the  opposition  of  the  Americans  was 
really  a  rebellion,  and  that  Allen  deserved  death;  but  that 


Carried  a  Prisoner  to  England.          107 

policy  obliged  them  to  spare  his  life,  inasmuch  as  the 
Americans  were  in  possession  of  the  greatest  number  of 
prisoners.  So  that  Allen  being  sent  to  England  for  the 
purpose  of  being  executed  was  rather  a  foil  of  their  laws 
and  authority ;  many  strongly  disapproving  of  his  having 
been  sent  there.  The  result  of  the  deliberations  of  Parlia- 
ment, as  well  as  the  public  sentiment  however,  never  came 
to  Allen's  knowledge  until  after  his  arrival  in  America. 

The  reader  will  readily  perceive  that  Allen  was  anxious 
about  his  preservation,  knowing  that  he  was  a  prisoner 
in  a  foreign  country,  and  his  keepers  cruel  and  brutal. 
Therefore,  says  Allen,  the  first  proposition  which  I  deter- 
mined in  my  own  mind  was  that  humanity  and  moral 
suasion  would  not  be  consulted  in  the  determining  of 
my  fate,  and  those  that  daily  came  in  great  numbers, 
out  of  curiosity  to  see  me,  both  gentle  and  simple,  united 
in  this,  that  I  would  be  hanged.  A  gentleman  from 
America,  by  the  name  of  Temple,  and  who  was  friendly 
to  me  just  whispered  to  me  in  the  ear,  and  told  me  that 
bets  were  laid  in  London  that  I  would  be  executed;  he 
likewise  privately  gave  me  a  guinea,  but  durst  say  very 
little  to  me. 

However,  agreeable  to  my  first  negative  proposition 
that  moral  virtue  would  not  influence  my  destiny,  I  had 
recourse  to  stratagem,  which  I  was  in  hopes  would  move 
in  the  circle  of  their  policy.  I  requested  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  castle  the  privilege  of  writing  to  Congress, 
who  after  consulting  with  an  officer  that  lived  in  town,  of 
a  superior  rank,  permitted  me  to  write.  I  wrote  in  the 
fore  part  of  my  letter  a  short  narrative  of  my  ill  treatment, 
but  withal  let  them  know  that  though  I  was  treated  as 


108    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

a  criminal  in  England,  and  continued  in  irons,  together 
with  those  taken  with  me,  yet  it  was  in  consequence  of  the 
orders  which  the  commander  of  the  castle  received  from 
General  Carlton;  I  therefore,  desired  Congress  to  desist 
from  matters  of  retaliation  until  they  should  know  the 
result  of  the  government  in  England  respecting  their  ill 
treatment  towards  me  and  govern  themselves  accord- 
ingly, with  a  particular  request  that  if  retaliation  should 
be  found  necessary,  it  might  be  exercised  not  according 
to  the  smallness  of  my  character  in  America,  but  in  pro- 
portion to  the  importance  of  the  cause  for  which  I  suf- 
fered. This  is  according  to  my  present  recollection,  the 
substance  of  the  letter,  inscribed,  "To  the  Illustrious 
Continental  Congress."  This  letter  was  written  with  a 
view  that  it  should  be  sent  to  the  Ministry  at  London, 
rather  than  to  Congress,  with  a  design  to  intimidate  the 
haughty  English  government  and  screen  my  neck  from 
the  halter. 

The  next  day  the  officer,  from  whom  I  obtained  license 
to  write ,  came  to  see  me  and  frowned  on  me  on  account 
of  the  impudence  of  the  letter,  as  he  phrased  it,  and 
further  added,  Do  you  think  we  are  fools  in  England  and 
would  send  your  letter  to  Congress  with  instructions  to 
retaliate  on  our  own  people?  I  have  sent  orders  to  Lord 
North.  This  gave  me  inward  satisfaction,  though  I 
carefully  concealed  it  with  a  pretended  resentment,  for  I 
found  I  had  come  Yankee  over  him,  and  that  the  letter 
had  gone  to  the  identical  person  I  had  designed  it  for. 
Nor  do  I  know  to  this  day  but  that  it  had  the  desired 
effect,  though  I  have  not  heard  anything  of  the  letter 
since. 


Carried  a  Prisoner  to  England.          109 

My  personal  treatment  by  Lieutenant  Hamilton,  wh 
commanded  the  castle,  was  very  generous.  He  sent  mt 
every  day  a  fine  breakfast  and  dinner  from  his  own  table, 
and  a  bottle  of  good  wine.  Another  aged  gentleman, 
whose  name  I  cannot  recollect,  sent  me  a  good  supper; 
but  there  was  no  distinction  in  public  support  between  me 
and  the  privates.  We  were  all  lodged  in  a  sort  of  Dutch 
bunk,  in  one  common  apartment  and  were  allowed  straw. 
The  privates  were  well  supplied  with  fresh  provisions,  and, 
with  me,  took  effectual  measures  to  rid  themselves  of 
lice. 

I  could  not  but  feel  inwardly,  extremely  anxious  for 
my  fate.  This,  however,  I  concealed  from  the  prisoners 
as  well  as  from  the  enemy  who  were  perpetually  shaking 
the  halter  at  me.  Nevertheless  I  treated  them  with 
scorn  and  contempt;  and,  having  sent  my  letter  to  the 
ministry,  could  conceive  of  nothing  more  in  my  power 
but  to  keep  up  my  spirits,  behave  in  a  daring,  soldier-like 
manner,  that  I  might  exhibit  a  good  sample  of  American 
fortitude.  Such  conduct,  I  judged,  would  have  a  more 
probable  tendency  to  my  preservation  than  concession 
and  timidity.  This,  therefore,  was  my  deportment;  and 
I  had  lastly  determined,  in  my  own  mind,  that  if  a  cruel 
death  must  inevitably  be  my  portion,  I  would  face  it 
undaunted,  and  though  I  greatly  rejoice  that  I  have 
returned  to  my  country  and  friends,  and  to  see  the 
power  and  pride  of  Great  Britain  humbled,  yet  I  am  con- 
fident I  could  then  have  died  without  the  least  appearance 
of  dismay. 

I  now  clearly  recollect  that  my  mind  was  so  resolved 
that  I  would  not  have  trembled  or  shown  the  least  fear, 


110   Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

as  I  was  sensible  it  could  not  alter  my  fate,  nor  do  more 
than  reproach  my  memory,  make  my  last  act  despicable 
to  my  enemies,  and  eclipse  the  other  actions  of  my  life- 
For  I  reasoned  thus,  that  nothing  was  more  common  than 
for  men  to  die  with  their  friends  around  them,  weeping 
and  lamenting  over  them,  but  not  able  to  help  them, 
which  was,  in  reality,  not  different  in  the  consequence  of 
it,  from  such  a  death  as  I  was  apprehensive  of;  and  as 
death  was  the  natural  consequence  of  animal  life,  to  which 
the  laws  of  nature  subject  mankind,  to  be  timorous  and 
uneasy  as  to  the  event  or  the  manner  of  it,  was  incon- 
sistent with  the  character  of  a  philosopher  or  soldier. 
The  cause  I  was  engaged  in  I  ever  viewed  worthy  hazard- 
ing my  life  for;  nor  was  I  in  the  most  critical  moments 
of  trouble,  sorry  that  I  engaged  in  it.  And  as  to  the 
world  of  spirits,  though  I  knew  nothing  of  the  mode  or 
manner  of  it,  I  expected,  nevertheless,  when  I  should 
arrive  at  such  a  world,  that  I  should  be  as  well  treated  as 
other  gentlemen  of  my  merit. 

Among  the  great  numbers  of  people  who  came  to  the 
castle  to  see  the  prisoners,  some  gentlemen  told  me  that 
they  had  come  fifty  miles  on  purpose  to  see  me  and  de- 
sired to  ask  me  a  number  of  questions  and  to  make  free 
with  me  in  conversation.  I  gave  for  my  answer  that  I 
chose  freedom  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  Then  one  of 
them  asked  me  what  my  occupation  in  life  had  been?  I 
answered  him  that  in  my  younger  days  I  had  studied 
divinity,  but. was  a  conjurer  by  profession.  He  replied 
that  I  conjured  wrong  at  the  time  I  was  taken;  and  I 
was  obliged  to  own  that  I  mistook  a  figure  at  that  time, 
but  that  I  had  conjured  them  out  of  Ticonderoga.  This 


MAP 

Showing  the  route 

qf-  Crown  Po 

GEN.  BURGOYNE, 


Note.    The  rout 
army  under  G 
foyne,  it  tea 
double  line  _ 


Carried  a  Prisoner  to  England.          Ill 

was  a  place  of  great  notoriety  in  England,  so  that  the  joke 
seemed  to  go  in  my  favor. 

It  was  a  common  thing  for  me  to  be  taken  out  of  close 
confinement  into  a  spacious  green  in  the  castle  or  rather 
parade,  where  numbers  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  were 
ready  to  see  and  hear  me.  I  often  entertained  such 
audiences  with  harangues  on  the  impracticability  of  Great 
Britain  conquering  the  colonies  of  America.  At  one  of 
these  times  I  asked  a  gentlemen  for  a  bowl  of  punch,  and 
he  ordered  his  servant  to  bring  it,  which  he  did,  and 
offered  it  to  me ;  but  I  refused  to  take  it  from  the  hand  of 
his  servant — he  then  gave  it  to  me  with  his  own  hand, 
refusing  to  drink  with  me,  in  consequence  of  my  being  a 
state  criminal.  However,  I  took  the  punch  and  drank 
it  all  down  at  one  draught,  and  handed  the  gentleman  the 
bowl.  This  made  the  spectators,  as  well  as  myself,  merry. 

I  expatiated  on  American  freedom.  This  gained  the 
resentment  of  a  young  beardless  gentleman  of  the  com- 
pany who  gave  himself  very  great  airs  and  replied,  that 
he  "knew  the  Americans  very  well,  and  was  certain  that 
they  could  not  bear  the  smell  of  powder.  "  I  replied  that 
I  accepted  it  as  a  challenge  and  was  ready  to  convince 
him  on  the  spot,  that  an  American  could  bear  the  smell 
of  powder;  at  which  he  answered  that  he  should  not  put 
himself  on  a  par  with  me.  I  then  demanded  of  him  to 
treat  the  character  of  the  Americans  with  due  respect. 
He  answered  that  I  was  an  Irishman;  but  I  assured  him, 
that  I  was  a  full-blooded  Yankee;  and  in  fine,  bantered 
him  so  much  that  he  left  me  in  possession  of  the  ground, 
and  the  laugh  went  against  him.  Two  clergymen  came 
to  see  me  and,  inasmuch  as  they  behaved  with  civility,  I 


112    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

returned  them  the  same.  We  discoursed  on  several  parts 
of  moral  philosophy  and  Christianity  and  they  seemed  to 
be  surprised  that  I  should  be  acquainted  with  such  topics 
or  that  I  should  understand  a  syllogism,  or  regular  mode 
of  argumentation.  I  am  apprehensive  my  Canadian 
dress  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  surprise,  and  excite- 
ment of  curiosity.  To  see  a  gentleman  in  England, 
regularly  dressed,  and  well  behaved  would  be  no  sight  at 
all;  but  such  a  rebel  as  they  were  pleased  to  call  me,  it 
is  probable,  was  never  before  seen  in  England. 

The  prisoners  were  landed  at  Falmouth  a  few  days 
before  Christmas  and  ordered  on  board  the  Solbay  frigate 
commanded  by  Captain  Symonds,  the  8th  day  of  January, 
1776,  when  our  hand  irons  were  taken  off.  This  remove 
was  in  consequence,  as  I  have  been  since  informed,  of  a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  which  had  been  procured  by  some 
gentlemen  in  England,  in  order  to  obtain  me  my  liberty. 
The  Solbay,  with  sundry  other  men-of-war  and  about 
forty  transports,  rendezvoused  at  the  cove  of  Cork  in 
Ireland,  to  take  in  provisions  and  water. 

When  we  were  first  brought  on  board,  Captain  Symonds 
ordered  all  the  prisoners  and  most  of  the  hands  on  board 
to  go  on  deck,  and  caused  to  be  read  in  their  hearing,  a 
certain  code  of  laws,  or  rules  for  the  regulation  and  order- 
ing of  their  behavior;  and  then,  in  a  sovereign  manner, 
ordered  the  prisoners,  me  in  particular  off  the  deck,  and 
never  to  come  on  it  again  for,  he  said,  this  is  a  place  for 
gentlemen  to  walk.  So  I  went  off,  an  officer  following 
me,  who  told  me  that  he  would  show  me  the  place  allotted 
for  me  and  took  me  down  to  the  cable  tire,  saying  to  me, 
This  is  your  place. 


Carried  a  Prisoner  to  England.  113 

Prior  to'  this  I  had  taken  cold  by  which  I  was  in  an  ill 
state  of  health,  and  did  not  say  much  to  the  officer,  but 
stayed  there  that  night — consulted  my  policy,  and  found 
I  was  in  an  evil  case ;  that  a  Captain  of  a  man-of-war  was 
more  arbitrary  than  a  king,  as  he  could  view  his  territory 
with  a  look  of  his  eye,  and  a  movement  of  his  finger  com- 
manded obedience.  I  felt  myself  more  despondent  than 
I  had  at  any  time  before ;  for  I  concluded  it  to  be  a  govern- 
mental scheme  to  do  that,  clandestinely,  which  policy 
forbid  to  be  done  under  sanction  of  public  justice  and  law. 

However,  two  days  later,  I  shaved  and  cleaned  myself 
as  well  as  I  could  and  went  on  deck.  The  Captain  spoke 
to  me  in  a  great  rage,  and  said,  Did  I  not  order  you  not  to 
come  on  deck?  I  answered  him  that  at  the  same  time  he 
said  that  it  was  the  place  for  gentlemen  to  walk;  that  I 
was  Colonel  Allen,  but  had  not  been  prpoperly  introduced 
to  him.  He  replied,  G — d  d — n  you,  sir,  be  careful  not 
to  walk  the  same  side  of  the  deck  that  I  do.  This  gave 
me  encouragement,  and  ever  after  that  I  walked  in  the 
manner  he  had  directed,  except  when  he  at  certain  times 
afterwards  ordered  me  off  in  a  passion,  and  I  then  would 
directly  afterwards  go  on  again,  telling  him  to  command 
his  slaves,  that  I  was  a  gentleman  and  had  a  right  to  walk 
the  deck;  yet,  when  he  expressly  ordered  me  off,  I  obeyed, 
not  out  of  obedience  to  him  but  to  set  an  example  to  his 
ship's  crew,  who  ought  to  obey  him. 

To  walk  to  the  windward  side  of  the  deck  is,  according 
to  custom,  the  prerogative  of  the  Captain  of  a  man-of-war, 
though  he  oftentimes,  nay,  commonly,  walks  with  his 
Lieutenants,  when  no  strangers  are  by.  When  a  Captain 
of  another  man-of-war  comes  on  board  the  two  Captains 


114   Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

walk  to  the  windward  side  while  the  other  officers  walk 
on  the  leeward  side. 

It  was  but  a  few  nights  I  lodged  in  the  cable  tire  before 
I  gained  an  acquaintance  with  the  master  of  arms.  His 
name  was  Gillegan,  an  Irishman,  who  was  a  generous  and 
well-disposed  man,  and  in  a  friendly  manner  made  me 
an  offer  of  living  with  him  in  a  little  berth  which  was 
allotted  him  between  decks  and  enclosed  with  canvas;  his 
preferment  on  board  was  about  equal  to  that  of  sergeant 
in  a  regiment.  I  was  comparatively  happy  in  acceptance 
of  this  clemency  and  lived  with  him  in  friendship  till  the 
frigate  anchored  in  the  harbor  of  Cape  Fear,  North  Caro- 
lina. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

RETURN   TO   AMERICA. 

Allen's  detention  in  England  was  of  short  duration. 
When  removed  from  the  dungeon,  in  which  he  was  con- 
fined during  the  six  weeks' voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  he 
little  expected  ever  again  to  step  aboard  a  ship.  He  had 
bid  farewell  to  his  friends  and  country  when  taken  aboard 
the  Gaspee  in  the  harbor  of  Quebec,  bound  for  England. 
He  had  been  told  on  many  occasions  that  he  would  grace 
the  end  of  a  halter  as  soon  as  he  was  safely  landed  in 
England,  and  from  all  indications,  he  fully  expected  the 
fulfilment  of  this  promised  reward.  He  was  very  much 
surprised,  therefore,  and  doubtless  rejoiced  inwardly, 
when  ordered  aboard  the  Solbay,  which  he  soon  learned 
was  bound  for  the  Carolinas. 

The  chief  reason  not  only  for  Allen's  early  return  to 
America,  as  it  afterwards  transpired,  but  also  those  who 
were  taken  prisoners  at  the  same  time,  was  to  enable  the 
British,  at  short  notice,  to  effect  an  exchange  of  officers 
of  equal  rank,  together  with  as  many  prisoners  as  they 
could  conveniently  carry  back  to  America  in  the  Solbay. 

The  Americans  had  been  unusually  active  during  the 
winter  of  1775  and  '76,  and  in  consequence  had  effected 
the  capture  not  only  of  men  and  stores  but  also  of  a 
number  of  British  officers  and  troops.  These,  Lord  Howe 
was  anxious  to  regain  and  doubtless  urged  the  return  to 

115 


116    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

America,  not  only  of  Allen,  but  of  all  other  acknowledged 
leaders  of  the  Revolution  then  confined  in  British  dun- 
geons. While  Allen  did  not  hold  a  Colonel's  commission, 
the  services  he  rendered  the  patriot  cause  in  the  taking 
of  Fort  Ticonderoga  placed  him  little  below  Washington 
in  the  esteem  of  his  countrymen. 

Among  the  officers  captured  by  the  Americans  was  a 
Colonel  Archibald  Campbell,  whose  release  the  British 
were  very  desirous  of  effecting,  and  since  Allen  held  the 
rank  of  Colonel  by  common  consent,  Lord  Howe  reasoned 
that  the  Americans  would  be  quite  willing  to  make  the 
exchange.  It  was  decided,  therefore,  to  await  the  return 
of  Allen  when  Washington  would  immediately  be  in- 
formed of  the  desired  action  with  respect  to  their 
prisoners. 

Nothing  of  material  consequence  happened  while  the 
fleet  rendezvoused  at  the  Cove  of  Cork,  Ireland  except  a 
violent  storm,  which  brought  old,  hardy  sailors  to  their 
prayers.  It  was  rumored  in  Cork  that  Allen  was  on  board 
the  Solbay,  with  a  number  of  prisoners  from  America,  on 
which  Messrs.  Clark  and  Hays,  merchants,  together  with 
a  number  of  other  benevolently  disposed  gentlemen, 
contributed  largely  to  the  relief  and  support  of  the 
prisoners,  who  were  thirty-four  in  number,  and  in  very 
needy  circumstances.  A  suit  of  clothes  from  head  to  foot 
including  an  overcoat  or  surtout,  and  two  shirts,  were 
bestowed  on  each  of  them.  I  received,  says  Allen,  in  super- 
fine broadcloths,  sufficient  for  two  jackets,  and  two  pairs 
of  breeches,  overplus  of  a  suit  throughout,  eight  fine 
Holland  shirts  and  socks  ready  made,  with  a  number  of 
pairs  of  silk  and  worsted  hose,  two  pair  shoes,  two  beaver 


Return  to  America.  117 

hats,  one  of  which  was  sent  me  richly  laced  with  gold,  by 
Mr.  James  Bonwell.  The  Irish  gentlemen  furthermore 
made  a  large  gratuity  of  wines  of  the  best  sort,  old  spirits, 
loaf  and  brown  sugar,  coffee,  tea,  chocolate,  with  a  large 
round  of  pickled  beef  and  a  number  of  fat  turkeys,  with 
many  other  articles  for  my  sea  stores,  too  tedious  to 
mention  here.  To  the  privates,  they  bestowed  on  each 
man,  two  pounds  of  tea  and  six  pounds  of  brown  sugar. 
These  articles  were  received  on  board  at  a  time  when  the 
Captain  and  First  Lieutenant  were  gone  on  shore,  by 
permission  of  the  second  Lieutenant,  a  handsome  young 
gentleman  who  was  then  under  twenty-two  years  of  age ; 
his  name  was  Douglas,  the  son  of  Admiral  Douglas,  as 
I  was  informed. 

As  this  munificence  was  so  unexpected  and  plentiful, 
I  may  add,  needful,  it  impressed  on  my  mind  the  highest 
sense  of  gratitude  towards  my  benefactors,  for  I  was  not 
only  supplied  with  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of 
life,  but  with  the  grandeur  and  superfluities  of  it.  Mr. 
Hays,  one  of  the  donors  before  mentioned,  came  on  board 
and  behaved  in  the  most  obliging  manner,  telling  me  that 
he  hoped  my  troubles  were  past;  he  was  determined,  he 
said,  to  make  my  sea  stores  equal  to  those  of  the  Captain 
of  the  Solbay.  He  made  an  offer  of  live  stock  and  where- 
with to  support  them,  but  I  knew  this  would  be  denied; 
and  to  crown  all  he  sent  me  by  another  person,  fifty 
guineas;  but  I  could  not  be  reconciled  to  receiving  the 
whole,  as  it  might  have  the  appearance  of  avarice;  I 
therefore  only  received  seven,  and  am  confident  not  only 
from  the  exercise  of  the  present  well-timed  generosity, 
but  from  a  large  acquaintance  with  gentlemen  of  this 


118    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

nation,  that  as  a  people  the  Irish  excel  in  liberality  and 
bravery. 

Two  days  after  the  receipt  of  the  aforesaid  donations, 
Captain  Symonds  came  on  board  full  of  envy  towards  the 
prisoners,  and  swore  by  all  that  is  good,  that  the  d — d 
American  rebels  should  not  be  feasted  at  this  rate,  by  the 
d — d  rebels  of  Ireland;  he  therefore  took  away  all  my 
liquors  before  mentioned,  except  some  of  the  wine  which 
was  secreted,  and  a  two  gallon  jug  of  old  spirits,  which  was 
reserved  for  me  per  favor  of  Lieutenant  Douglas.  The 
taking  of  my  liquors  was  abominable  in  the  sight  of 
Lieutenant  Douglas ;  he  therefore  spoke  in  my  behalf,  till 
the  Captain  was  angry  with  him  and  in  consequence 
proceeded  to  take  away  all  the  tea  and  sugar  which  had 
been  given  to  the  prisoners  and  confiscated  it  to  the  use 
of  the  ship's  crew.  Our  clothing  was  not  taken  away, 
but  the  privates  were  forced  to  do  duty  on  board.  Soon 
after  this  there  came  a  boat  to  the  side  of  the  ship  and 
Captain  Symonds  asked  a  gentleman  who  was  in  it,  in 
my  hearing,  what  his  business  was.  He  answered  that 
he  was  sent  to  deliver  some  sea-stores  to  Colonel  Ethan 
Allen  which,  if  I  remember  right,  he  said  were  sent  from 
Dublin,  but  the  Captain  damned  him  heartily,  ordered 
him  away  from  the  ship,  and  would  not  suffer  him  to 
deliver  the  stores.  I  was  furthermore  informed  that  the 
gentlemen  from  Cork  requested  of  Captain  Symonds,  that 
I  might  be  allowed  to  come  into  the  city  and  that  they 
would  be  responsible  I  should  return  to  the  frigate  at  a 
given  time,  which  was  denied  them. 

We  sailed  from  England  the  8th  day  of  January,  and 
from  the  Cove  of  Cork  on  the  12th  day  of  February.  Just 


Return  to  America.  119 

before  we  sailed  the  prisoners  who  were  with  me  were 
divided  and  put  on  board  three  different  ships  of  war. 
This  gave  me  some  uneasiness,  for  they  were  to  a  man 
zealous  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  behaved  with  a  be- 
coming fortitude  in  the  various  scenes  of  their  captivity; 
but  those  who  were  distributed  on  board  other  ships  of 
war,  were  much  better  used  than  those  who  tarried  with 
me,  as  appeared  afterwards.  When  the  fleet,  which  con- 
sisted of  about  forty-five  sail,  including  five  men-of-war, 
sailed  from  the  Cove  with  a  fresh  breeze,  the  appearance 
was  beautiful,  abstracted  from  the  unjust  and  bloody 
designs  they  had  in  view.  We  had  not  sailed  many  days 
before  a  mighty  storm  arose  which  lasted  nearly  twenty- 
four  hours  without  intermission.  The  wind  blew  with 
relentless  fury  and  no  man  could  remain  on  deck  except 
he  was  lashed  fast,  for  the  waves  rolled  over  the  deck  by 
turns,  with  a  forcible  rapidity,  and  every  soul  on  board 
was  anxious  for  the  preservation  of  the  ship,  and  their 
lives.  In  this  storm  the  Thunder-bomb  man-of-war 
sprang  a  leak  and  was  afterwards  floated  to  some  part  of 
the  coast  of  England,  and  the  crew  saved.  We  were  then 
said  to  be  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  After  the  storm  had 
abated,  I  could  plainly  discern  that  the  prisoners  were 
better  used  for  some  considerable  time. 

Nothing  of  consequence  happened  after  this,  till  we 
had  sailed  to  the  Island  of  Madeira,  except  a  certain 
favor  which  I  received  of  Captain  Symonds,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  application  I  made  to  him  for  the  privilege 
of  his  tailor  to  make  me  a  suit  of  clothes  of  the  cloth  be- 
stowed on  me  in  Ireland,  which  he  generously  granted. 
I  could  then  walk  the  deck  with  a  seeming  better  grace. 


120   Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

When  we  had  reached  Maderia,  and  anchored,  sundry 
gentlemen  with  the  Captain  went  on  shore,  who  I  con- 
clude gave  the  rumor  that  I  was  in  the  frigate,  upon 
which  I  soon  after  found  Irish  generosity  was  again 
excited,  for  a  gentleman  of  that  nation  sent  his  clerk  on 
board  to  know  of  me  if  I  would  accept  a  sea-store  from  him, 
particularly  of  wine.  This  matter  I  made  known  to  the 
generous  Lieutenant  Douglas  who  readily  granted  me  the 
favor,  provided  the  articles  could  be  brought  on  board 
during  the  time  of  his  command;  adding  that  it  would 
be  a  pleasure  to  him  to  serve  me,  notwithstanding  the 
opposition  he  met  with  before.  So  I  directed  the  gentle- 
man's clerk  to  inform  him  that  I  was  greatly  in  need  of 
so  signal  a  charity  and  desired  the  young  gentleman  to 
make  the  utmost  dispatch,  which  he  did ;  but  in  the  mean- 
time Captain  Symonds  and  his  officers  came  on  board, 
and  immediately  made  ready  for  sailing.  The  wind  at 
the  same  time  being  fair,  we  set  sail  when  the  young  gentle- 
man was  in  fair  sight  with  the  aforesaid  store. 

The  reader  will  doubtless  recollect  the  seven  guineas 
I  received  at  the  Cove  of  Cork.  These  enabled  me  to 
purchase  of  the  purser  what  I  wanted,  had  not  the  Captain 
strictly  forbidden  it,  though  I  made  sundry  applications 
to  him  for  that  purpose,  but  his  answer  to  me  when  I  was 
sick  that  it  was  no  matter  how  soon  I  was  dead,  and  that 
he  was  nowise  anxious  to  preserve  the  lives  of  rebels,  but 
wished  them  all  dead;  that  was  indeed  the  language  of 
most  of  the  ship's  crew.  I  expostulated  not  only  with 
the  Captain,  but  with  other  gentlemen  on  board,  on  the 
unreasonableness  of  such  usage ;  inferring  that,  inasmuch 
as  the  government  in  England  did  not  proceed  against 


Return  to  America.  121 

me  as  a  capital  offender,  they  should  not;  for  that  they 
were  by  no  i-ieans  empowered  by  any  authority,  either 
civil  or  military,  to  do  so;  for  the  English  government 
had  acquitted  me  by  sending  me  back  a  prisoner  of  war 
to  America,  and  that  they  should  treat  me  as  such.  I 
further  drew  an  inference  of  impolicy  on  them,  provided 
they  should  by  hard  usage  destroy  my -life;  inasmuch  as 
I  might,  if  living,  redeem  one  of  their  officers;  but  the 
Captain  replied  that  he  needed  no  directions  of  mine  how 
to  treat  a  rebel;  that  the  British  would  conquer  the 
American  rebels,  hang  the  Congress  and  such  as  pro- 
moted the  rebellion,  me  in  particular,  and  take  their  own 
prisoners;  so  that  my  life  was  of  no  consequence  in  the 
scale  of  their  policy.  I  gave  him  for  answer  that  if  they 
stayed  till  they  conquered  America,  before  they  hanged, 
I  should  die  of  old  age,  and  desired  that  till  such  an  event 
should  take  place,  he  would  at  least  allow  me  to  purchase 
of  the  purser  with  my  own  money,  such  articles  as  I 
greatly  needed;  but  he  would  not  permit  it,  and  when  I 
reminded  him  of  the  generous  and  civil  usage  that  the 
prisoners  held  in  captivity  by  the  Americans  met  with, 
he  said  that  it  was  not  owing  to  their  goodness,  but  to 
their  timidity  for.  he  said,  they  expect  to  be  conquered 
and  therefore  dare  not  misuse  our  prisoners,  and  in  fact 
this  was  the  language  of  the  British  officers,  till  General 
Burgoyne  was  taken,  happy  event,  and  not  only  of  the 
officers  but  of  the  whole  British  army.  I  appeal  to  all 
my  brother  prisoners,  who  have  been  with  the  British  in 
the  southern  department,  for  a  confirmation  of  what  I 
have  advanced  on  this  subject.  The  surgeon  of  the  Sol- 
bay,  whose  name  was  North,  was  a  very  humane  and 


122    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

obliging  man  and  took  the  best  care  of  the  prisoners  who 
were  sick. 

The  3d  of  May,  the  Solbay  cast  anchor  in  the  harbor  of 
Cape  Fear,  in  North  Carolina,  as  did  Sir  Peter  Parker's 
ship  of  fifty  guns,  a  little  back  of  the  bar;  for  there  was 
no  depth  of  water  for  him  to  come  into  the  harbor.  These 
two  men-of-war  and  fourteen  sail  of  transports  and  others, 
came  after  so  that  most  of  the  fleet  rendezvoused  at  Cape 
Fear  for  three  weeks.  The  soldiers  on  board  the  trans- 
ports were  sickly  in  consequence  of  so  long  a  voyage;  added 
to  this,  the  small-pox  carried  off  many  of  them.  They 
landed  on  the  mainland  and  formed  a  camp,  but  the 
riflemen  annoyed  them  and  caused  them  to  move  to  an 
island  in  the  harbor;  such  cursing  of  riflemen  I  have  never 
heard. 

A  detachment  of  regulars  was  sent  up  Brunswick 
river;  as  they  landed  they  were  fired  on  by  those  marks- 
men, and  they  came  back  next  day  damning  the  rebels 
for  their  unmanly  ways  of  fighting  and  swearing  that  they 
would  give  no  quarter  for  they  took  sight  at  them,  and 
were  behind  timber  skulking  about.  One  of  the  de- 
tachments said  they  lost  one  man,  but  a  negro  who  was 
with  them  and  heard  what  they  said,  soon  after  told  ms 
that  he  helped  to  bury  thirty-one  of  them.  This  did  me 
some  good  to  find  my  countrymen  giving  them  battle, 
for  I  never  heard  such  swaggering  as  among  General 
Clinton's  little  army,  who  commanded  at  that  time,  and  I 
am  apt  to  think  there  were  four  thousand  men,  though 
not  two-thirds  of  them  fit  for  duty.  I  heard  numbers  of 
them  say  that  the  trees  in  America  should  hang  well  with 
fruit  that  campaign,  for  they  would  give  no  quarter. 


Return  to  America.  123 

This  was  in  the  mouths  of  those  whom  I  heard  speak  on  the 
subject,  officers  as  well  as  soldiers.  I  wished  at  that  time 
my  countrymen  knew  as  well  as  I  did  what  a  murdering 
and  cruel  enemy  they  had  to  deal  with;  but  experience 
has  since  taught  this  country  what  they  are  to  expect  at 
the  hands  of  Britons,  when  in  their  power. 

The  prisoners,  who  had  been  sent  on  board  different 
men-of-war,  at  the  Cove  of  Cork,  were  collected  together 
and  the  whole  of  them  put  on  board  the  Mercury  frigate, 
Captain  Montague,  except  one  of  the  Canadians  who  died 
on  the  passage  from  Ireland,  and  Peter  Noble  who  made 
his  escape  from  the  Sphinx  man-of-war,  in  this  harbor 
and  by  extraordinary  swimming,  got  safe  home  to  New 
England  and  gave  intelligence  of  the  usage  of  his  brother 
prisoners.  The  Mercury  set  sail  from  this  port  for  Halifax 
about  the  20th  of  May,  and  Sir  Peter  Parker  was  about 
to  sail  with  the  land  force,  under  the  command  of  General 
Clinton,  for  the  reduction  of  Charleston  in  South  Caro- 
lina, and  when  I  heard  of  his  defeat  in  Halifax,  it  gave 
me  inexpressible  satisfaction. 

I  now  found  myself  under  a  worse  captain  than  Symonds , 
for  Montague  was  loaded  with  prejudice  against  every- 
body and  everything  that  was  not  stamped  with  royalty; 
and  being  by  nature  underwitted,  his  wrath  was  heavier 
than  the  others,  or  at  least  his  mind  was  in  no  instance 
liable  to  be  diverted  by  good  sense,  humor  or  bravery,  of 
which  Symonds  was,  by  turns,  susceptible.  A  Captain 
Francis  Proctor  was  added  to  our  number  of  prisoners 
when  we  were  first  put  on  board  this  ship.  This  gentle- 
man had  formerly  belonged  to  the  English  service.  The 
Captain,  and  in  fact,  all  the  gentlemen  of  the  ship  were 


124    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

very  much  incensed  against  him,  and  put  him  in  irons 
without  the  least  provocation,  and  he  was  continued  in 
this  miserable  situation  about  three  months.  In  this 
passage,  the  prisoners  were  infected  with  the  scurvy, 
some  of  them  more  than  others,  but  all  quite  severely. 
The  ship's  crew  was  to  a  great  degree  troubled  with  it,  and 
I  concluded  it  was  catching.  Several  of  the  crew  died 
with  it  on  their  passage.  I  was  weak  and  feeble  in  conse- 
quence of  so  long  and  cruel  a  captivity,  yet  had  but  little 
of  the  scurvy. 

The  purser  was  again  expressly  forbidden  by  the  Cap- 
tain to  let  me  have  anything  out  of  his  store,  upon  which 
I  went  on  deck  and  in  the  handsomest  manner,  requested 
the  favor  of  purchasing  a  few  necessaries  of  the  purser, 
which  was  denied  me.  He  further  told  me  that  I  should 
be  hanged  as  soon  as  I  arrived  at  Halifax.  I  tried  to 
reason  the  matter  with  him,  but  found  him  proof  against 
reason.  I  also  held  up  his  honor  to  view  and  his  be- 
havior to  me  and  the  prisoners  in  general  as  being  de- 
rogatory in  the  extreme,  but  found  his  honor  impene- 
trable. I  then  endeavored  to  touch  his  humanity,  but 
found  he  had  none,  for  his  preposession  of  bigotry  to  his 
own  party  had  confirmed  him  in  an  opinion  that  no 
humanity  was  due  to  unroyalists,  but  seemed  to  think 
that  heaven  and  earth  were  made  merely  to  gratify  the 
King  and  his  creatures.  He  uttered  many  unintelligible 
and  grovelling  ideas,  a  little  tinctured  with  monarchy, 
but  stood  well  to  his  text  of  hanging  me.  He  afterwards 
forbade  his  surgeon  to  administer  any  help  to  the  sick 
prisoners.  I  was  every  night  shut  down  in  the  cable 
tire  with  the  rest  of  the  prisoners,  and  we  all  lived  miser- 


Return  to  America.  125 

ably  while  under  his  power.  But  I  received  some  gen- 
erosity from  several  of  the  midshipmen  who,  in  a  degree, 
alleviated  my  misery;  one  of  their  names  was  Putrass — 
the  names  of  the  others  I  do  not  now  recollect;  but  they 
were  obliged  to  be  private  in  the  bestowment  of  their 
favor  which  was  sometimes  good  wine  bitters,  and  at 
other  times,  a  generous  drink  of  grog. 

Some  time  in  the  first  week  of  June,  we  came  to 
anchor  at  the  Hook,  off  New  York,  where  we  remained  but 
three  days,  in  which  time  Governor  Tryon,  Mr.  Kemp, 
the  old  attorney-general  of  New  York,  and  several  other 
perfidious  and  overgrown  tories  and  land-jobbers  came 
on  board.  Tryon  viewed  me  with  a  stern  countenance  as  I 
was  walking  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  deck  with  the 
midshipmen;  he  and  his  companions  were  walking  with 
the  Captain  and  Lieutenant,  on  the  windward  side  of  the 
ship,  but  never  spoke  to  me,  though  it  is  altogether  prob- 
able that  he  thought  of  the  old  quarrel  between  him,the 
old  government  of  New  York,  and  the  Green  Mountain 
boys.  They  went  with  the  Captain  into  the  cabin  and 
the  same  afternoon  returned  on  board  a  vessel  which  lay 
near  the  Hook,  where,  at  that  time,  they  took  sanctuary 
from  the  resentment  of  their  injured  country.  What 
passed  between  the  officers  of  the  ship  and  these  visitors 
I  know  not ;  but  this  I  know,  that  my  treatment  from  the 
principal  officers  was  more  severe  afterwards. 

We  arrived  at  Halifax  not  far  from  the  middle  of  June, 
where  the  ship's  crew,  which  was  infected  with  the  scurvy, 
were  taken  on  shore  and  shallow  trenches  dug,  into  which 
they  were  put  and  partly  covered  with  earth.  Indeed 
every  proper  measure  was  taken  for  their  relief.  The 


126    Ethan  Alien  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

prisoners  were  not  permitted  any  sort  of  medicine,  but 
were  put  on  board  a  sloop  which  lay  in  the  harbor  near  the 
town  of  Halifax,  surrounded  with  several  men-of-war 
and  their  tenders,  and  a  guard  constantly  set  over  them, 
night  and  day.  The  sloop  •  we  had  wholly  to  ourselves, 
except  the  guard  who  occupied  the  forecastle;  here  we 
were  cruelly  pinched  with  hunger.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
we  had  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  common  allowance. 
We  were  all  seized  with  violent  hunger  and  faintness. 
We  divided  our  scanty  allowance  as  exact  as  possible.  I 
shared  the  same  fate  with  the  rest,  and  though  they 
offered  me  more  than  an  even  share,  I  refused  to  accept 
it,  as  it  was  a  time  of  substantial  distress,  which  in  my 
opinion  I  ought  to  partake  equally  with  the  rest,  and  set 
an  example  of  virtue  and  fortitude  to  our  little  common- 
wealth. 

I  sent  letter  after  letter  to  Captain  Montague,  who 
still  had  the  care  of  us,  and  also  to  his  lieutenant,  whose 
name  I  cannot  call  to  mind,  but  could  obtain  no  answer, 
much  less  a  redress  of  grievances;  and  to  add  to  the 
calamity,  near  a  dozen  of  the  prisoners  were  dangerously 
ill  of  the  scurvy.  I  wrote  private  letters  to  the  doctors 
to  procure  if  possible  some  remedy  for  the  sick,  but  in 
vain.  The  chief  physician  came  by  in  a  boat  so  close 
that  the  oars  touched  the  sloop  we  were  in  and  I  uttered 
my  complaint  in  the  'gentlest  manner  to  him,  but  he 
never  so  much  as  turned  his  head,  or  made  me  any  answer, 
though  I  continued  speaking  till  he  was  out  of  hearing. 
Our  cause  then  became  yery  deplorable.  Still  I  kept 
writing  to  the  Captain,  till  he  ordered  the  guards,  as  they 
told  me,  not  to  bring  any  more  letters  from  me  to  him. 


Return  to  America.  127 

In  the  meantime  an  event  happened  worth  relating. 
One  of  the  men,  almost  dead  of  the  scurvy,  lay  by  the 
side  of  the  sloop  and  a  canoe  of  Indians  coming  by,  he 
purchased  two  quarts  of  strawberries,  and  ate  them  at 
once  and  it  almost  cured  him.  The  money  he  gave  for 
them  was  all  the  money  he  had  in  the  world.  After  that 
we  tried  every  way  to  procure  more  of  that  fruit,  reason- 
ing from  analogy  that  they  might  have  the  same  effect  on 
others  infected  with  the  same  disease,  but  could  obtain 
none. 

Meanwhile  the  doctor's  mate  of  the  Mercury  came  pri- 
vately on  board  the  prison  sloop  and  presented  me  with 
a  large  vial  of  smart  drops,  which  proved  to  be  good  for 
the  scurvy,  though  vegetables  and  some  other  ingredients 
were  requisite  for  a  cure;  but  the  drops  gave  at  least  a 
check  to  the  disease.  This  was  a  well-timed  exertion 
of  humanity,  but  the  doctor's  name  has  slipped  my 
mind,  and  in  my  opinion,  it  was  the  means  of  saving  the 
lives  of  several  men. 

The  guard  which  was  set  over  us,  was  by  this  time 
touched  with  the  feelings  of  compassion,  and  I  finally 
trusted  one  of  them  with  a  letter  of  complaint  to  Gov- 
ernor Arbuthnot  of  Halifax,  which  he  found  means  to 
communicate,  and  which  had  the  desired  effect;  for  the 
Governor  sent  an  officer  and  surgeon  on  board  the  prison- 
sloop  to  know  the  truth  of  the  complaint.  The  officer's 
name  was  Russell,  and  held  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  and 
treated  me  in  a  friendly  and  polite  manner,  and  was 
really  angry  at  the  cruel  and  unmanly  usage  the  prisoners 
met  with,  and  with  the  surgeon  made  a  true  report  of 
matters  to  Governor  Arbuthnot,  who,  either  by  his  order 


128    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

or  influence,  took  us  next  day  from  the  prison-sloop  to 
Halifax  gaol,  where  I  became  acquainted  with  the  now 
Honorable  James  Lovell,  one  of  the  members  of  Congress, 
for  the  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  sick  were  taken 
to  the  hospital,  and  the  Canadians  who  were  effective, 
were  employed  in  the  King's  works;  and  when  their 
countrymen  were  recovered  from  the  scurvy  and  joined 
them,  they  all  deserted  the  King's  employ  and  were  not 
heard  of  at  Halifax  as  long  as  the  remainder  of  the  prison- 
ers continued  there,  which  was  till  the  middle  of  October. 
We  were  on  board  the  prison-sloop  about  six  weeks,  and 
were  landed  at  Halifax  near  the  middle  of  August.  Sev- 
eral of  our  English-American  prisoners  who  were  cured 
of  the  scurvy  at  the  hospital,  made  their  escape  from 
thence,  and  after  a  long  time,  reached  their  old  habita- 
tions. 

I  had  now  but  thirteen  with  me  of  those  who  were 
taken  in  Canada,  and  remained  in  jail  with  me  in  Halifax, 
who,  in  addition  to  those  who  were  imprisoned  before, 
made  our  number  about  thirty-four;  we  were  all  locked 
up  in  one  common  large  room  without  regard  to  rank, 
education  or  any  other  accomplishment,  where  we  con- 
tinued from  the  setting  to  the  rising  sun,  as  sundry  of 
them  were  infected  with  the  scurvy  and  other  distempers, 
the  furniture  of  this  spacious  room  consisted  principally 
of  excrement  tubs.  We  petitioned  for  a  removal  of  the 
sick  to  the  hospitals,  but  were  denied.  We  remon- 
strated against  the  ungenerous  usage  of  being  confined 
with  the  privates,  as  being  contrary  to  the  laws  and  cus- 
toms of  nations,  and  particularly  ungrateful  in  them  in 
consequence  of  the  gentleman-like  usage  which  the 


Return  to  America.  129 

British  imprisoned  officers  met  with  in  America ;  and  thus 
we  wearied  ourselves  petitioning  and  remonstrating,  but 
to  no  purpose  at  all,  for  General  Massey,  who  commanded 
at  Halifax,  was  as  inflexible  as  the  devil  himself — a  fine 
preparation  this  for  Mr.  Lovell,  member  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress. 

Lieutenant  Russell,  whom  I  have  mentioned  before, 
came  to  visit  me  in  prison,  and  assured  me  that  he  had 
done  his  utmost  to  procure  my  parole  for  enlargement; 
at  which  a  British  captain,  who  was  then  the  town  major, 
expressed  compassion  for  the  gentlemen  confined  in  the 
filthy  place,  and  assured  me  that  he  had  used  his  influence 
to  procure  their  enlargement;  his  name  was  near  like 
Ramsay.  Among  the  prisoners  there  were  six  in  number 
who  had  a  legal  claim  to  a  parole,  viz.,  James  Lovell,  Esq., 
Captain  Francis  Proctor,  a  Mr.  Howland,  master  of  a 
Continental  armed  vessel,  a  Mr.  Taylor,  his  mate,  and 
myself. 

As  to  the  article  of  provision,  we  were  all  served  much 
better  than  in  any  part  of  my  captivity;  and  since  it  was 
Mr.  LovelFs  misfortune  and  mine  to  be  prisoners,  and  in  so 
wretched  circumstances,  I  was  happy  that  we  were  to- 
gether, as  a  mutual  support  to  each  other,  and  to  the  un- 
fortunate prisoners  with  us.  Our  first  attention  was  the 
preservation  of  ourselves  and  our  injured  little  republic; 
the  rest  of  our  time  we  devoted  interchangeably  to 
politics  and  philosophy,  as  patience  was  a  needful  exercise 
in  so  evil  a  situation. 

I  had  not  been  in  this  jail  many  days  before  a  worthy 
and  charitable  woman,  Mrs.  Blackden,  by  name,  supplied 
me  with  a  good  dinner  of  fresh  meats  every  day,  with 


130    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

garden  fruit,  and  sometimes  with  a  bottle  of  wine;  not- 
withstanding which,  I  had  not  been  more  than  three 
weeks  in  the  place  before  I  lost  all  appetite  for  the  most 
delicious  food,  as  also  did  sundry  of  the  prisoners,  particu- 
larly a  Sergeant  Moore,  a  man  of  courage  and  fidelity.  I 
have  several  times  seen  him  hold  the  boatswain  of  the 
Solbay  frigate  when  he  attempted  to  strike  him,  and 
laughed  him  out  of  the  conceit  of  using  him  as  a  slave. 

A  doctor  visited  the  sick  and  did  the  best  (as  I  suppose) 
he  could  for  them,  to  no  apparent  purpose.  I  grew 
weaker  and  weaker,  as  did  the  rest.  Several  of  them 
could  not  help  themselves.  At  last  I  reasoned  in  my  own 
mind  that  raw  onions  would  be  good.  I  made  use  of 
them  and  found  immediate  relief,  as  did  the  sick  in 
general,  particularly  Sergeant  Moore,  who  soon  recovered 
almost  from  the  shades.  Though  I  had  met  with  a  little 
revival,  still  I  found  the  malignant  hand  of  Britain  had 
greatly  reduced  my  constitution  with  stroke  upon  stroke. 
Mr.  Lovell  and  myself  used  every  argument  and  entreaty 
that  could  be  well  conceived  of  in  order  to  obtain  gentle- 
manly-like  usage,  to  no  purpose.  I  then  wrote  General 
Massey  as  severe  a  letter  as  I  possibly  could,  with  my 
friend  Lovell's  assistance.  The  contents  of  it  were  to 
give  the  British,  as  a  nation,  and  him,  as  an  individual, 
their  true  character.  This  roused  the  rascal,  for  he  could 
not  bear  to  see  his  and  the  nation's  deformity  in  that 
transparent  letter  which  I  sent  him.  He  therefore  put 
himself  in  a  great  rage  about  it,  and  showed  the  letter  to 
a  number  of  British  officers,  particularly  to  Captain 
Smith,  of  the  Lark  frigate,  who,  instead  of  joining  with 
him  in  disapprobation,  commended  the  spirit  of  it,  upon 


Return  to  America.  131 

which  General  Massey  said  to  him,  "Do  you  take  the 
part  of  a  rebel  against  me?"  Captain  Smith  answered 
that  he  rather  spoke  his  sentiments,  and  there  was  a  dis- 
sension in  opinion  between  them.  Some  officers  took  the 
part  of  the  General,  and  others,  of  the  Captain.  Thii  I 
was  informed  of  by  a  gentleman  who  had  it  from  Captain 
Smith. 

In  a  few  days  after  this  the  prisoners  were  ordered  to 
go  on  board  of  a  man-of-war  which  was  bound  for  New 
York,  but  two  of  them  were  not  able  to  go  on  board,  and 
were  left  at  Halifax;  one  died  and  the  other  recovered. 
This  was  about  the  twentieth  of  October,  and  soon  after 
we  had  got  on  board  the  Captain  sent  for  me  in  particular 
to  come  on  the  quarter  deck.  I  went,  not  knowing  that 
it  was  Captain  Smith  or  his  ship  at  that  time,  and  ex- 
pected to  meet  the  same  rigorous  usage  I  had  commonly 
met  with,  and  prepared  my  mind  accordingly,  but  when  I 
came  on  deck  the  captain  met  me  with  his  hand,  wel- 
comed me  to  his  ship,  invited  me  to  dine  with  him  that 
day  and  assured  me  that  I  should  be  treated  as  a  gentle- 
man, and  that  he  had  given  orders  that  I  should  be  treated 
with  respect  by  the  ship's  crew.  This  was  so  unexpected 
and  sudden  a  transition  that  it  drew  tears  from  my  eyes, 
which  all  the  ill  usage  I  had  before  met  with  was  not  able 
to  produce,  nor  could  I  at  first  hardly  speak,  but  soon 
recovered  myself  and  expressed  my  gratitude  for  so  unex- 
pected a  favor;  and  let  him  know  that  I  felt  anxiety  of 
mind  in  reflecting  that  his  situation  and  mine  were  such 
that  it  was  not  probable  that  it  would  ever  be  in  my 
power  to  return  the  favor.  Captain  Smith  replied  that 
he  had  no  reward  in  view,  but  only  treated  me  as  a 


132    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

gentleman  ought  to  be  treated;  he  said,  "This  is  a 
mutable  world,  and  one  gentleman  never  knows  but  that 
it  may  be  in  his  power  to  help  another."  Soon  after  I 
found  this  to  be  the  same  Captain  Smith  who  took  my 
part  against  General  Massey;  but  he  never  mentioned 
anything  of  it  to  me,  and  I  thought  it  impolite  in  me  to  in- 
terrogate him  as  to  any  disputes  which  might  have  arisen 
between  him  and  the  General  on  my  account,  as  I  was  a 
prisoner,  and  that  it  was  at  his  option  to  make  free  with 
me  on  the  subject  if  he  pleased;  and  if  he  did  not,  I 
might  take  it  for  granted  that  it  would  be  unpleasant  for 
me  to  query  about  it,  though  I  had  a  strong  propensity  to 
converse  with  him  on  that  subject. 

I  dined  with  the  Captain,  agreeable  to  his  invitation, 
and  oftentimes  with  the  Lieutenant  in  the  gun  room,  but 
in  general  ate  and  drank  with  my  friend  Lovell  and  the 
other  gentlemen  who  were  prisoners  with  me,  where  I 
also  slept. 

We  had  a  little  berth  enclosed  with  canvas,  between 
decks,  where  we  enjoyed  ourselves  very  well,  in  hopes  of 
an  exchange;  besides  our  friends  at  Halifax  had  a  little 
notice  of  our  departure,  and  supplied  us  with  spirituous 
liquor  and  many  articles  of  provision  for  the  cost.  Cap- 
tain Burke,  having  been  taken  prisoner,  was  added  to  our 
company  (he  had  commanded  an  American  armed 
vessel)  and  was  generously  treated  by  the  Captain,  and 
all  the  officers  of  the  ship,  as  well  as  myself.  We  now  had 
in  all  near  thirty  prisoners  on  board,  and  as  we  were  sail- 
ing along  the  coast,  if  I  recollect  right,  off  Rhode  Island,  Cap- 
tain Burke,  with  an  under-officer  of  the  ship,  whose  name 
I  do  not  recollect,  came  to  our  little  berth,  proposed  to 


Return  to  America.  133 

kill  Captain  Smith  and  the  principal  officers  of  the  frigate 
and  take  it,  adding  that  there  were  thirty-five  thousand 
pounds  sterling  in  the  same.  Captain  Burke  likewise 
averred  that  a  strong  party  out  of  the  ship's  crew  was  in 
the  conspiracy,  and  urged  me  and  the  gentleman  that  was 
with  me,  to  use  our  influence  with  the  private  prisoners 
to  execute  the  design  and  take  the  ship  with  the  cash  into 
one  of  our  own  ports. 

Upon  which  I  replied  that  we  had  been  too  well  used 
on  board  to  murder  the  officers,  that  -I  could  by  no 
means  reconcile  it  to  my  conscience,  and  that  in  fact  it 
should  not  be  done;  and  while  I  was  yet  speaking,  my 
friend  Lovell  confirmed  what  I  had  said,  and  further 
pointed  out  the  ungratefulness  of  such  an  act;  that  it  did 
not  fall  short  of  murder;  and  in  fine,  all  the  gentlemen  in 
the  berth  opposed  Captain  Burke  and  his  colleague;  but 
they  strenuously  urged  that  the  conspiracy  would  be 
found  out,  and  that  it  would  cost  them  their  lives,  pro- 
vided they  did  not  execute  their  design.  I  then  inter- 
posed spiritedly,  and  put  an  end  to  further  argument  on 
the  subject,  and  told  them  that  they  might  depend  upon 
it,  upon  my  honor,  that  I  would  faithfully  guard  Captain 
Smith's  life.  If  they  should  attempt  the  assault  I  would 
assist  him  (for  they  desired  me  to  remain  neutral),  and 
that  the  same  honor  that  guarded  Captain  Smith's  life 
would  guard  their's;  and  it  was  agreed  by  those  present 
not  to  reveal  the  conspiracy,  to  the  intent  that  no  man 
should  be  put  to  death  in  consequence  of  what  had  been 
projected;  and  Captain  Burke  and  his  colleague  went  to 
stifle  the  matter  among  their  associates.  I  could  not 
help  calling  to  mind  what  Captain  Smith  said  to  me  when 


134    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

I  first  came  on  board:  "This  is  a  mutable  world,  and  one 
gentleman  never  knows  but  that  it  may  be  in  his  power 
to  help  another."  Captain  Smith  and  his  officers  still 
behaved  with  their  usual  courtesy,  and  I  never  heard  any 
more  of  the  conspiracy. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SCIENTIFIC  BARBARITY  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

In  the  latter  part  of  October,  1776,  the  sloop  in  which 
Allen  and  his  fellow  prisoners  were  confined,  and  which 
had  been  converted  into  a  floating  prison  at  Halifax, 
arrived  in  New  York  harbor.  The  city  had  just  been 
re-taken  by  the  British  under  Admiral  and  Lord 
Howe.  The  battle  of  Long  Island,  which  resulted  so 
disastrously  to  the  Americans,  the  capture  and  execution 
of  Captain  Nathan  Hale,  the  martyr  spy,  the  evacuation 
of  New  York  City  by  Washington  and  his  disheartened 
army  of  less  than  one-third  of  the  strength  of  the  enemy — 
these  were  the  determining  causes  which  led  the  Howes  to 
concentrate  their  scattered  forces  in  front  of  the  newly- 
acquired  city  which  had  afforded  the  patriot  army  the 
few  comforts  they  enjoyed  throughout  the  seven  years  of 
their  struggle  for  freedom. 

During  the  period  of  the  sloop's  stay,  which  was  only 
a  few  days,  Captain  Smith  informed  Colonel  Allen  that 
he  had  recommended  him  to  Admiral  Richard  Howe  and 
General  William  Howe,  as  a  gentleman  of  honor  and 
veracity,  and  desired  they  might  treat  him  as  such.  Cap- 
tain Burke  was  ordered  on  board  a  prison  ship  in  the 
harbor,  and  Colonel  Allen,  with  the  other  prisoners,  to  a 
transport  ship,  commanded  by  Captain  Craige,  who  re- 
ceived him  into  the  cabin  with  himself  and  officers. 

135 


136    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

I  fared,  says  Allen,  as  they  did,  and  was  in  every  respect 
well  treated,  in  consequence  of  directions  from  Captain 
Smith. 

In  a  few  weeks  after  this  I  had  the  happiness  to  part 
with  my  friend  Lovell,  for  his  sake,  whom  the  enemy 
affected  to  treat  as  a  private.  He  was  a  gentleman  of 
merit,  and  liberally  educated,  but  had  no  commission. 
They  maligned  him  on  account  of  his  unshaken  attach- 
ment to  the  cause  of  his  country.  He  was  exchanged  for 
a  Governor  Philip  Skene,  of  the  British.  I  continued  in 
this  ship  until  the  latter  part  of  November,  where  I  con- 
tracted an  acquaintance  with  a  British  captain  whose 
name  has  slipped  my  memory.  He  was  what  we  may 
call  a  genteel,  hearty  fellow.  I  remember  an  expression 
of  his  over  a  bottle  of  wine,  to  this  import:  "That  there 
is  greatness  of  soul  for  personal  friendship  to  subsist  be- 
tween you  and  me,  as  we  are  upon  opposite  sides,  and  may 
at  another  day  be  obliged  to  face  each  other  in  the  field." 
I  am  confident  that  he  was  as  faithful  as  any  officer  in  the 
British  army.  At  another  sitting  he  offered  to  bet  a 
dozen  of  wine  that  Fort  Washington  would  be  in  the  hands 
of  the  British  in  three  days.  I  took  the  bet,  and  would, 
had  I  known  that  that  would  have  been  the  case,  and  the 
third  day  afterwards  we  heard  a  prodigious  heavy  can- 
nonade, and  that  day  the  fort  was  taken,  sure  enough. 
Some  months  after,  when  I  was  on  parole,  he  called  upon 
me  with  his  usual  humor  and  mentioned  the  bet.  I  ac- 
knowledged I  had  lost  it ,  but  he  said  he  did  not  mean  to 
take  it  then,  as  I  was  a  prisoner;  that  he  would,  another 
day,  call  on  me,  when  their  army  came  to  Bennington,  I 
replied  that  he  was  quite  too  generous,  as  I  had  fairly  lost 


Scientific  Barbarity  of  Great  Britain.      137 

it;  besides  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  would  not  suffer  them 
to  come  to  Bennington.  This  was  all  in  good  humor.  I 
should  have  been  glad  to  have  seen  him  after  the  defeat 
at  Bennington,  but  did  not.  It  was  customary  for  a  guard 
to  attend  the  prisoners,  which  was  often  changed.  One 
~was  composed  of  tories  from  Connecticut,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fairfield  and  Green  Farms.  The  sergeant's  name  was 
Hoit.  They  were  very  full  of  their  invectives  against  the 
country,  swaggered  of  their  loyalty  to  their  King  and 
exclaimed  bitterly  against  the  "cowardly  Yankees,"  as 
they  were  pleased  to  term  them,  but  finally  contented 
themselves  with  saying  that  when  the  country  was  over- 
come, they  should  be  well  rewarded  for  their  loyalty,  out 
of  the  estates  of  the  whigs,  which  would  be  confiscated. 
This  I  found  to  be  the  general  language  of  tories  after  I 
arrived  from  England  on  the  American  coasts.  I  heard 
sundry  of  them  relate  that  the  British  generals  had  en- 
gaged them  as  ample  reward  for  all  their  losses,  disap- 
pointments and  expenditures,  out  of  the  forfeited  rebels' 
estate.  This  language  early  taught  me  what  to  do  with 
tories'  estates,  as  far  as  my  influence  can  go.  For  it  is 
really  a  game  of  hazard  between  whig  and  tory.  The 
whigs  must  inevitably  have  lost  all,  in  consequence  of  the 
abilities  of  the  tories,  and  their  good  friends,  the  British, 
and  it  is  no  more  than  right  the  tories  should  run  the  same 
risk,  in  consequence  of  the  abilities  of  the  whigs.  But  of 
this,  more  will  be  observed  in  the  sequel  of  this  narrative. 
Some  time  near  the  last  of  November,  the  prisoners 
were  landed  at  New  York,  and  I  was  admitted  to  parole, 
with  the  other  officers,  viz.,  Proctor,  Howland  and  Taylor. 
The  privates  were  put  into  the  filthy  churches  in  New 


138    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

York,  with  the  distressed  prisoners  that  were  taken  at 
Fort  Washington;  and  the  second  night,  Sergeant  Roger 
Moore,  who  was  bold  and  enterprising,  found  means  to 
make  his  escape,  with  every  one  of  the  remaining  pris- 
oners that  were  taken  with  me,  except  three,  who  were 
soon  after  exchanged,  so  that  out  of  thirty-one  prisoners 
who  went  with  me  only  two  died  with  the  enemy  and 
three  only  were  exchanged,  one  of  whom  died  after  he 
came  within  our  lines.  All  the  rest  at  different  times 
made  their  escape  from  the  enemy. 

I  now  found  myself  on  parole  and  restricted  to  the 
limits  of  the  city  of  New  York,  where  I  soon  projected 
means  to  live  in  some  measure  agreeable  to  my  rank, 
though  I  was  destitute  of  cash.  My  constitution  was 
almost  worn  out  by  such  a  long  and  barbarous  captivity. 
The  enemy  gave  out  that  I  was  crazy,  and  wholly  un- 
manned; but  my  vitals  held  sound;  nor  was  I  delirious 
any  more  than  I  have  been  from  my  youth  up;  but  my 
extreme  circumstances,  at  certain  times,  rendered  it 
politic  to  act,  in  some  measure,  the  madman;  and  in  con- 
sequence of  a  regular  diet  and  exercise,  my  blood  recruited 
and  my  nerves  in  a  great  measure  recovered  their  former 
tone,  strength,  and  usefulness,  in  the  course  of  six  months. 

The  reader  is  next  invited  to  a  retrospective  view  of 
the  doleful  scene  of  inhumanity,  exercised  by  General 
Howe,  and  the  army  under  his  command,  towards  the 
prisoners  taken  on  Long  Island,  on  the  27th  day  of  Au- 
gust, 1776;  many  of  these  men  were  inhumanly  and  bar- 
barously murdered  after  they  had  surrendered  their  arms , 
particularly  a  General  Odel,  of  Woodhull,  belonging  to 
the  militia,  who  was  hacked  to  pieces  with  cutlasses 


Scientific  Barbarity  of  Great  Britain.      139 

while  yet  alive,  by  the  light  horsemen,  and  also  a  Captain 
Fellows  of  the  Continental  army,  who  was  thrust  through 
with  a  bayonet  of  which  wound  he  died  instantly. 

Many  others,  among  whom  was  a  Captain  Nathan 
Hale  of  the  Connecticut  Rangers,  were  hanged  by  the  neck 
till  they  were  dead;  five  were  strung  to  the  limb  of  a  white 
oak  tree,  and  without  any  reason  assigned,  except  that  they 
were  fighting  in  defense  of  the  only  blessing  worth  pre- 
serving. And,  indeed,  those  who  had  the  misfortune  to 
fall  into  their  hands  at  Fort  Washington,  in  the  month  of 
November  following,  met  with  but  very  little  better 
usage,  except  that  they  were  reserved  from  immediate 
death  to  famish  and  die  with  hunger;  in  fine,  the  word 
rebel  applied  to  all  vanquished  persons,  without  regard 
to  rank,  who  were  in  the  continental  service  on  the  27th 
day  of  August  aforesaid,  was  thought  by  the  enemy, 
sufficient  to  sanctify  whatever  cruelties  they  were  pleased 
to  inflict,  death  itself  not  excepted. 

The  private  soldiers  who  were  brought  to  New  York, 
continues  Allen,  were  crowded  into  churches,  and  en- 
vironed with  slavish  Hessian  guards,  a  people  of  a  strange 
language,  who  were  sent  to  America  for  no  other  design 
but  cruelty  and  desolation;  and  again  by  merciless 
Britons  whose  mode  of  communicating  ideas  being  in- 
telligible in  this  country,  served  only  to  tantalize  and  in- 
sult the  helpless  and  perishing;  but  above  all,  the  hellish 
delight  and  triumphs  of  the  tories  over  them,  as  they  were 
dying  by  hundreds.  This  was  too  much  for  me  to  bear 
as  a  spectator,  for  I  saw  the  tories  exulting  over  the  dead 
bodies  of  their  murdered  countrymen.  I  have  gone  into 
the  churches  and  seen  many  of  the  prisoners  in  the  agonies 


140    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

of  death  in  consequence  of  hunger,  and  others  speechless, 
and  near  death,  biting  pieces  of  chips ;  others  pleading  for 
God's  sake  for  something  to  eat,  and  at  the  same  time 
shivering  with  the  cold.  Hollow  groans  saluted  the 
ears,  and  despair  seemed  to  be  imprinted  on  every  one  of 
their  countenances.  The  filth  of  these  churches,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  fluxes,  was  almost  beyond  description. 
The  floors  were  covered  with  excrements.  I  have  care- 
fully sought  to  direct  my  steps  so  as  to  avoid  it,  but  could 
not.  They  would  beg  for  God's  sake  for  one  copper  or 
morsel  of  bread.  I  have  seen  in  one  of  these  churches, 
seven  dead,  at  the  same  time,  lying  among  the  excre- 
ments of  their  bodies. 

It  was  a  common  practice  with  the  enemy  to  convey 
the  dead  from  these  filthy  places  in  carts,  to  be  slightly 
buried;  but  I  have  seen  whole  gangs  of  tories  making  de- 
rision and  exulting  over  the  dead,  saying,  "There  goes 
another  load  of  damned  rebels."  I  have  observed  the 
British  soldiers  to  be  full  of  their  blackguard  jokes,  and 
vaunting  on  these  occasions;  but  they  appeared  to  me 
to  be  less  malignant  than  the  tories. 

The  provisions  dealt  out  to  the  prisoners  was  by  no 
means  sufficient  for  the  support  of  life.  It  was  deficient 
in  quantity,  and  much  more  in  quality.  The  prisoners 
often  presented  me  with  a  sample  of  their  bread  which 
I  certify  was  damaged  to  that  degree  that  it  was  loathsome 
and  unfit  to  be  eaten,  and  I  am  bold  to  aver  that  it  had 
been  condemned  and  was  of  the  very  worst  sort.  I  have 
seen  and  been  fed  upon  damaged  bread  in  the  course  of 
my  captivity  and  observed  the  quality  of  such  bread  as 
has  been  condemned  by  the  enemy,  among  which  was  very 


Scientific  Barbarity  of  Great  Britain.      141 

little  so  effectually  spoiled  as  that  which  was  dealt  out  to 
these  prisoners.  Their  allowance  of  meat  (as  they  told 
me)  was  quite  trifling  and  of  the  basest  sort.  I  never 
saw  any  of  it,  but  was  informed,  bad  as  it  was,  it  was 
swallowed  almost  as  quickly  as  they  got  hold  of  it.  I  saw 
some  of  them  sucking  bones  after  they  were  speechless; 
others,  who  could  yet  speak  and  had  the  use  of  their 
reason,  urged  me  in  the  strongest  and  most  pathetic  man- 
ner, to  use  my  interest  in  their  behalf .  "  For  you  plainly 
see,"  said  they,  "that  we  are  devoted  to  death  and  de- 
struction." And  after  I  had  examined  more  particularly 
into  their  truly  deplorable  condition,  and  had  become 
more  fully  apprized  of  the  essential  facts,  I  was  per- 
suaded that  it  was  a  premeditated  and  systematical  plan 
of  the  British  council  to  destroy  the  youths  of  our  land, 
with  a  view  thereby  to  deter  the  country,  and  make  it 
submit  to  their  despotism ;  but  that  I  could  not  do  them 
any  material  service,  and  that,  by  any  public  attempt  for 
that  purpose,  I  might  endanger  myself  by  frequenting 
places  the  most  nauseous  and  contagious  that  could  be 
conceived  of.  I  refrained  from  going  into  the  churches,  but 
frequently  conversed  with  such  of  the  prisoners  as  were 
permitted  to  come  into  the  yard,  and  found  that  the  sys- 
tematical misusage  still  continued.  The  guard  would  often 
drive  me  away  with  their  fixed  bayonets.  A  Hessian  one 
day  followed  me  five  or  six  rods,  but  by  making  use  of  my 
legs  I  got  rid  of  the  lubber.  Sometimes  I  could  obtain  a 
little  conversation  notwithstanding  their  severities. 

I  was  in  one  of  the  church  yards,  and  it  was  rumored 
among  those  in  the  church  when  many  of  the  prisoners 
came  with  their  usual  complaints  to  me,  and  among  the 


142    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

rest,  a  large-boned,  tall  young  man,  from  Pennsylvania, 
as  he  told  me,  who  was  reduced  to  a  mere  skeleton.  He 
said  he  was  glad  to  see  me  before  he  died,  which  he  ex- 
pected to  have  done  last  night,  but  was  a  little  revived; 
he  furthermore  informed  me  that  he  and  his  brother  had 
been  urged  to  enlist  into  the  British  service,  but  both  had 
resolved  to  die  first;  that  his  brother  had  died  last  night 
in  consequence  of  that  resolution,  and  that  he  expected 
shortly  to  follow  him.  But  I  made  the  other  prisoners 
stand  a  little  off,  and  told  him  with  a  low  voice  to  enlist. 
He  then  asked  whether  it  was  right  in  the  sight  of  God? 
I  assured  him  to  deceive  the  British  by  enlisting,  and 
desert  the  first  opportunity  afforded;  upon  which  he 
answered  with  transport,  that  he  would  enlist.  I  charged 
him  not  to  mention  my  name,  as  his  adviser  lest  it  should 
get  air,  and  I  should  be  closely  confined,  in  consequence 
of  it. 

The  integrity  of  these  suffering  prisoners  is  hardly 
credible.  Many  hundreds,  I  am  confident,  submitted  to 
death  rather  than  enlist  in  the  British  service,  which  I 
am  informed  they  most  generally  were  pressed  to  do.  I 
was  astonished  at  the  resolution  of  the  brothers  particu- 
larly. It  seems  that  they  could  not  be  stimulated  to 
such  exertions  of  heroism  from  ambition,  as  they  were 
but  obscure  soldiers;  strong  indeed  must  be  the  internal 
principle  of  virtue,  which  supported  them  to  the 
death,  and  one  of  them  actually  gave  up  his  life  as 
did  many  hundred  others.  I  readily  grant  that  instances 
of  public  virtue  are  no  excitement  to  the  sordid  and 
vicious;  nor  on  the  other  hand,  will  all  the  barbarity  of 
Britain  and  Heshland  awaken  them  to  a  sense  of  their 


Scientific  Barbarity  of  Great  Britain.      143 

duty  to  the  public;  but  these  things  will  have  their 
proper  effect  on  the  generous  and  brave.  The  officers  on 
parole  were  most  of  them  zealous  if  possible  to  afford  the 
miserable  soldiery  relief,  and  often  consulted  with  one 
another  on  the  subject,  but  to  no  effect,  being  destitute 
of  the  means  of  subsistence  which  they  needed.  Nor  could 
the  officers  conceive  any  measure  which  they  thought 
would  alter  their  fate,  or  so  much  as  be  a  means  of  getting 
them  out  of  those  filthy  places,  and  into  the  fresh  air. 
Some  thought  that  all  the  officers  should  go  in  procession 
to  General  Howe  and  plead  the  cause  of  the  perishing 
soldiers;  but  this  proposal  was  negatived,  because  Gen- 
eral Howe  must  needs  be  well  acquainted  and  have  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  state  and  condition  of  the 
prisoners,  in  every  one  of  their  wretched  apartments,  and 
that  much  more  particular  and  exact  than  any  officer  on 
parole  could  be  supposed  to  have,  as  the  General  had  a 
return  of  the  circumstances  of  the  prisoners  by  his  own 
officers,  every  morning,  of  the  number  which  were  alive 
as  also  the  number  which  died  every  twenty-four  hours; 
and  consequently  the  bill  of  mortality,  as  collected  from 
the  daily  returns  lay  before  him,  with  all  the  material 
situations  and  circumstances  of  the  prisoners;  and  pro- 
vided the  officers  should  go  in  procession  to  General 
Howe,  according  to  the  projection,  it  would  give  him  the 
greatest  affront,  and  that  he  would  either  retort  upon 
them  that  it  was  no  part  of  their  parole  to  instruct  him 
in  his  conduct  to  prisoners;  that  they  were  mutinying 
against  his  authority,  and  by  affronting  him,  had  for- 
feited their  parole;  or  that  more  probably,  instead  of 
saying  one  word  to  them,  would  order  them  all  into  as 


144    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

wretched  a  confinement  as  the  soldiers,  whom  they  sought 
to  relieve;  for  at  that  time,  the  British,  from  the  General 
to  the  private  sentinel,  were  confident,  and  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  express  their  belief,  that  they  would  yet  conquer 
the  country.  Thus  the  consultation  of  the  officers  was 
confounded  in  consequence  of  the  dread  which  at  that 
time  lay  on  their  minds  of  offending  General  Howe ;  for 
they  knew  so  murderous  a  tyrant  would  not  be  too  good 
to  destroy  even  the  officers  on  the  least  pretense  of  an 
affront,  and  they  were  as  much  in  his  power  as  were  the 
soldiers.  As  General  Howe  perfectly  understood  the  con- 
dition of  the  private  soldiers,  it  was  argued  that  it  was 
exactly  such  as  he  and  his  council  had  advised,  and  as  he 
meant  to  destroy  them  it  would  be  to  no  purpose  for  the 
paroled  officers  to  try  to  dissuade  him  from  it,  as  they 
were  helpless  and  liable  to  the  same  fate  on  giving  the 
least  affront;  indeed,  anxious  apprehensions  disturbed 
them  in  their  distressing  circumstances. 

In  the  meantime  mortality  raged  to  such  an  intoler- 
able degree  among  the  prisoners  that  the  very  school  boys 
in  the  streets  knew  the  mental  design  of  it  in  some  measure ; 
at  least,  they  knew  that  they  were  starved  to  death. 
Some  poor  women  contributed  to  their  necessities  till 
their  children  were  almost  starved,  and  all  persons  of 
common  understanding  knew  that  they  were  doomed  to 
the  cruelest  and  worst  of  deaths.  It  was  also  proposed 
by  some  to  make  a  written  representation,  signed  by  the 
officers,  of  the  condition  of  the  soldiery,  and  that  it 
should  be  couched  in  such  terms  as  though  they  were 
apprehensive  that  the  General  was  imposed  upon  by  his 
officers  in  their  daily  returns  to  him  of  the  state  and  con- 


Scientific  Barbarity  of  Great  Britain.      145 

dition  of  the  prisoners  and  that,  therefore,  the  officers, 
moved  with  compassion,  were  constrained  to  communicate 
to  him  the  facts  relative  to  them,  nothing  doubting  but 
that  they  would  meet  with  a  speedy  redress;  but  this 
proposal  was  most  generally  negatived  also,  and  for  much 
the  same  reasons  offered  in  the  other  case ;  for  it  was  con- 
jectured  that  General  Howe's  indignation  would  be  moved 
against  such  officers  as  should  attempt  to  whip  him  over 
his  officers'  backs;  that  he  would  discern  that  he  himself 
was  really  struck  at,  and  not  the  officers  who  made  the 
daily  returns;  therefore,  self-preservation  deterred  the 
officers  from  either  petitioning  or  remonstrating  with 
General  Howe,  either  verbally  or  in  writing,  as  also  the 
consideration  that  no  valuable  purpose  to  the  distressed 
would  be  obtained. 

I  made  several  rough  drafts  on  the  subject,  one  of 
which  I  exhibited  to  Colonels  Magaw,  Miles  and  Atlee,  and 
they  said  that  they  would  consider  the  matter.  Soon  after 
I  called  on  them,  and  some  of  the  gentlemen  informed  me 
that  they  had  written  to  the  General  on  the  subject,  and 
I  concluded  that  the  gentlemen  thought  it  best  that  they 
should  write  without  me,  as  there  was  such  spirited 
aversion  subsisting  between  the  British  and  me. 

In  the  meantime  a  Colonel  Hussecker,  who  claimed  to 
belong  to  the  Continental  army,  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
brought  to  New  York.  He  reported  that  the  country  was 
almost  universally  submitting  to  British  authority,  and 
that  there  would  be  little  or  no  more  opposition  to  Great 
Britain.  This  at  first  gave  the  enemy  no  small  amount 
of  surprise,  but  in  a  few  days  they  recovered  from  the 
shock;  Colonel  Hussecker,  being  a  German,  was  per- 


146    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

mitted  to  dine  with  General  De  Heister,  a  countryman  of 
his  serving  in  the  British  army,  and  from  his  conduct  they 
thought  he  was  a  spy,  at  least  he  was  considered  so  by 
most  of  the  officers,  and  his  actions  were  closely  watched. 
At  this  time  our  little  army  was  retreating  across  New 
Jersey,  while  our  men  were  being  murdered  by  hundreds 
in  New  York.  The  army  of  British  and  Hessian  hirelings 
prevailed  for  a  little  while,  as  though  it  was  ordered  by 
Providence  to  show  to  the  latest  posterity  what  the 
British  would  have  done  if  they  could,  and  what  the 
general  result  would  have  been  in  consequence  of  their 
success  in  conquering  the  Americans.  This  only  excited 
every  man  to  exert  himself  all  the  more  in  the  defence  of 
liberty,  for  the  establishment  of  the  independency  of  the 
United  States  of  America  now  seemed  no  longer  impos- 
sible. In  the  face  of  these  obstacles  and  scenes  of  adverse 
fortune  Washington  remained  immovable  and  obstinate. 
He  had  taken  up  his  sword  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  he 
was  determined  to  win  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  This 
determination  was  his  support  and  consolation  in  the  day 
of  his  humiliation  when  he  retreated  before  the  enemy 
through  New  Jersey  into  Pennsylvania.  To  add  to  the 
troubles  and  discomfitures  of  the  Americans,  General 
Lee,  together  with  a  small  force,  was  surprised  and  taken 
prisoner  at  Baskenridge.  The  patriot  army  was  greatly 
reduced  by  the  loss  of  several  hundred  men  taken 
prisoners  as  well  as  disabled  by  disease  or  death  on  the 
field  and  expiration  of  terms  of  enlistment.  Washington 
was  obliged  to  retreat  with  his  prisoners  towards  Phila- 
delphia. General  Howe  went  in  pursuit,  notwithstanding 
the  severity  of  the  weather. 


Scientific  Barbarity  of  Great  Britain.      147 

During  this  gloomy  state  of  affairs  many  persons 
joined  the  British  army  in  order  to  secure  food,  raiment 
and  protection.  But  a  small  band  of  heroes  checked  the 
tide  of  British  success.  A  division  of  Hessians  had  ad- 
vanced to  Trenton,  where  they  rested  in  apparent  security. 
Washington  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Delaware 
with  about  three  thousand  men,  many  of  whom  were 
without  shoes  or  sufficient  clothing  while  the  river  between 
them  was  covered  with  floating  ice.  Washington  in 
the  meantime  was  not  idle;  he  knew  the  importance  of 
striking  a  decisive  blow  if  only  to  encourage  the  slowly 
expiring  hopes  of  his  countrymen;  so,  on  the  night  of 
December  25th,  1776,  he  crossed  the  river  and  took  the 
enemy  by  surprise.  The  whole  body,  consisting  of  about 
nine  hundred  men,  was  captured  with  little  or  no 
resistance.  Few  of  the  Hessians  were  killed,  among 
those  who  were,  howerer,  was  a  Colonel  Rahl,  who  was 
in  command  of  this  detachment. 

This  surprise  and  capture  of  the  Hessians  greatly 
enraged  the  British,  who  were  still  vastly  more  numerous 
than  the  Continental  troops.  They  collected  their 
forces  at  once  and  marched  from  Princeton  to  attack 
Washington,  who  was  then  at  Trenton,  leaving  a 
detachment  from  their  main  body  at  Princeton  for 
the  support  of  that  place.  On  the  2nd  of  January,  1777, 
Lord  Cornwallis  appeared  near  Trenton,  with  a  strong 
body  of  troops.  Much  skirmishing  was  done,  which  im- 
peded the  march  of  the  British  army  until  the  Americans 
had  removed  their  artillery  and  baggage  to  places  of  safety, 
after  which  they  retired  to  the  southward,  repulsing  the 
enemy  in  their  attempt  to  pass  the  bridge.  This  was  a 


148   Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

trying  time  for  Washington ;  who,  though  in  possession  of 
more  than  a  thousand  prisoners,  and  still  exulting  over 
a  most  astonishing  victory,  was  by  no  means  able  to  with- 
stand the  collective  force  of  the  enemy.  His  sagacity, 
however,  soon  suggested  a  stratagem,  for  an  engagement 
would  certainly  have  meant  overwhelming  defeat.  He 
gave  orders  for  the  troops  to  light  fires  in  their  camp 
(which  were  intended  to  deceive  the  enemy)  and  he  pre- 
pared to  make  a  night  march.  Accordingly  at  12  o'clock 
the  troops  left  their  camps  and  by  a  circuitous  march 
eluded  the  vigilance  of  the  enemy,  and  early  in  the  morn- 
ing appeared  at  Princeton.  A  sharp  action  ensued  but  the 
British  troops  gave  way.  A  party  of  nearly  a  hundred 
took  refuge  in  an  old  college,  but  were  forced  to  surrender. 
The  main  body  perceiving  their  rear  was  attacked  hurried 
back  but  found  that  Washington  had-  out-generaled 
them  and  had  retired  with  his  little  army  towards  Morris- 
town.  The  enemy  lost  in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners, 
about  five  hundred  men.  The  Americans  lost  but  few 
men,  but  among  them  was  General  Mercer,  a  most  valu- 
able officer  and  accomplished  gentleman. 

These  repeated  successes,  one  following  the  other  in 
quick  succession,  disheartened  the  enemy  and  had  an 
amazing  effect  on  the  success  of  the  American  arms,  and 
undoubtedly  was  one  of  the  corner-stones  on  which  the 
structure  of  American  liberty  was  so  speedily  raised.  The 
country  at  no  time  had  been  so  depressed  as  just  before 
the  morning  of  these  glorious  successes,  which  dispelled 
in  part,  the  gloom  which  had  spread  like  a  pall  over  the 
American  people.  These  successes,  too,  had  a  mighty 
effect  on  General  Howe  and  his  council,  for  it  roused  them 


Scientific  Barbarity  of  Great  Britain.      149 

to  a  sense  of  their  own  weakness,  and  convinced  them 
that  they  were  neither  omniscient  nor  omnipresent. 
Their  obduracy  and  death-designing  malevolence  in  some 
measure  abated  or  was  suspended.  The  prisoners,  who 
were  condemmed  to  the  most  wretched  and  cruelest  of 
deaths,  and  who  had  survived  to  this  period  (though  most 
of  them  died  before),  were  immediately  ordered  to  be  sent 
within  General  Washington's  lines  for  an  exchange; 
consequently  they  were  taken  out  of  their  filthy  and 
poisonous  places  of  confinement  and  sent  out  of  New 
York  in  haste;  several  of  them  fell  dead  in  the  streets  of 
New  York  as  they  attempted  to  walk  to  the  vessels  in 
the  harbor  for  their  intended  embarkation.  The  number 
of  those  who  died  before  reaching  the  lines  was  never 
accurately  ascertained,  but  from  reports  received  from 
those  who  were  finally  exchanged,  it  is  knowrn  that  all 
died  in  consequence  of  inhuman  treatment  and  unsani- 
tary conditions  while  confined  in  the  filthy  prisons.  Dur- 
ing the  war,  the  provost  jails  at  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia, were  in  charge  of  one,  Cunningham,  whose  cruelties 
and  crimes  were  notorious  and  monstrous.  Upon  the 
scaffold  in  England,  years  afterward,  he  confessed  that 
he  had,  by  starvation  and  otherwise,  caused  the  death  of 
fully  two  thousand  prisoners  under  his  charge  at  New 
York.  At  times  he  put  poison  into  their  food,  and  again 
he  sold  their  rations  for  his  own  benefit.  This  statement  is 
further  verified  by  Colonel  Allen,  himself  a  prisoner  under 
this  notorious  character,  who  says: 

Some  of  us  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  that  scene  of 
mortality,  more  especially  of  that  part  which  continued 
after  the  exchange  took  place,  are  of  the  opinion  that  it 


150    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

was  partly  in  consequence  of  a  slow  poison.  Upon  the 
best  calculation  I  have  been  able  to  make  from  personal 
knowledge  and  the  many  evidences  I  have  collected  in 
support  of  facts,  I  learn  that  of  the  prisoners  taken  on 
Long  Island,  Fort  Washington  and  some  few  others,  at 
different  times  and  places,  about  two  thousand  perished 
from  poison,  or  with  hunger,  cold,  and  sickness  occasioned 
by  the  filth  of  their  prison  at  New  York,  and  a  number 
more  on  their  passage  to  the  continental  lines;  most  of 
the  residue  who  reached  their  homes  could  not  be  restored 
by  the  assistance  of  physicians  and  friends,  but  like  their 
brother  prisoners,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  relentless  and 
scientific  barbarity  of  Britain.  I  took  as  much  pains  as 
my  circumstances  would  admit  of,  to  inform  myself  not 
only  of  matters  of  fact  but  likewise  of  the  very  design 
and  aims  of  General  Howe  and  his  council;  the  latter  of 
which  I  predicated  on  the  former,  and  submit  it  to  a 
candid  public.  The  success  of  the  American  arms  had  a 
happy  effect  on  the  continental  officers  who  were  on 
parole  in  New  York.  A  number  of  us  assembled,  but  not 
in  a  public  manner,  and  with  full  bowls  and  glasses 
drank  General  Washington's  health,  and  were  not  un- 
mindful of  Congress  and  our  worthy  friends  on  the  conti- 
nent, and  almost  forgot  that  we  were  prisoners. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

RELEASED   FROM    CAPTIVITY. 

The  brief  respite  from  a  loathsome  dungeon,  reeking 
with  filth,  would  seem  to  have  been  sufficient  cause  for 
great  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving  to  most  men;  but  when 
Allen  learned  that  this  release  was  for  the  purpose  of 
inducing  him  to  desert  the  cause  for  which  he  had  suffered 
untold  hardships  and  for  which  he  had  undergone  a 
punishment  that  few  men  could  have  survived,  his  con- 
tempt for  his  traducers  knew  no  bounds. 

A  British  officer  of  rank  and  importance  in  their  army, 
says  Allen,  whose  name  I  shall  not  mention  for  certain 
reasons  at  present,  though  I  have  mentioned  it  to  some 
of  my  close  friends  and  confidants,  sent  for  me  to  come 
to  his  lodgings,  and  told  me  that  "faithfulness,  though 
in  a  wrong  cause,  had  nevertheless  recommended  me  to 
General  Howe,  who  was  minded  to  make  me  a  Colonel  of 
a  regiment  of  new  levies,  in  the  British  service;  and 
proposed  that  I  should  go  to  England,  with  him  and 
some  other  officers  who  would  embark  for  that  purpose 
in  a  few  days,  and  there  be  introduced  to  Lord  G.  Ger- 
maine,  and  probably  to  the  King;  and  that  previously 
I  should  be  clothed  equal  to  such  an  introduction,  and 
instead  of  paper  rags,  be  paid  in  hard  guineas;  after  this, 
should  embark  with  General  Burgoyne  and  assist  in  the 
reduction  of  the  country,  which  infallibly  would  be  con- 

151 


152    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

quered,  and  when  that  should  be  done  I  should  have  a 
large  tract  of  land,  either  in  the  New  Hampshire  Grants 
or  in  Connecticut,  it  would  make  no  odds,  as  the  country 
would  be  forfeited  to  the  crown.  I  then  replied,  That 
if  by  faithfulness  I  had  recommended  myself  to  General 
Howe  I  should  be  loth  by  unfaithfulness  to  lose  the  Gen- 
eral's good  opinion;  besides,  that  I  viewed  the  offer  of 
land  to  be  similar  to  that  which  the  devil  offered  Jesus 
Christ — "To  give  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  if  he 
would  fall  down  and  worship  him,"  when,  at  the  same 
time,  the  damned  soul  had  not  one  foot  of  land  upon 
earth.  This  closed  the  conversation  and  the  gentleman 
turned  from  me  with  an  air  of  dislike,  saying  I  was  a  bigot; 
upon  which  I  retired  to  my  lodgings. 

Near  the  last  of  November  I  was  admitted  to  parole 
in  New  York,  with  many  other  American  officers,  and  on 
the  22nd  day  of  January,  1777,  was  with  them  directed 
by  the  British  commissary  of  prisoners,  to  be  quartered 
on  the  westerly  part  of  Long  Island,  and  our  parole  con- 
tinued. During  my  imprisonment  there,  no  occurrences 
worthy  of  observation  happened.  I  obtained  the  means 
of  living  as  well  as  I  desired,  which  in  a  great  measure, 
repaired  my  constitution,  which  had  been  greatly  injured 
by  the  severities  of  an  inhuman  captivity.  I  now  began 
to  feel  'myself  composed,  expecting  either  an  exchange 
or  continuance  in  good  and  honorable  treatment;  but 
alas !  my  visionary  expectations  soon  vanished.  The  news 
of  the  conquest  of  Ticonderoga  by  General  Burgoyne 
and  the  advance  of  his  army  into  the  country  made  the 
haughty  Britons  again  to  feel  their  importance,  and  with 
that  came  their  insatiable  thirst  for  cruelty. 


Released  from  Captivity.  153 

In  June,  1777,  the  British  army,  amounting  to  seven 
thousand  men,  besides  Indians  and  Canadians,  com- 
manded by  General  Burgoyne,  crossed  Lake  Champlain 
and  laid  siege  to  Fort  Ticonderoga.  In  a  short  time,  the 
enemy  gained  possession  of  Sugar  Hill,  which  commanded 
the  American  lines,  and  General  St.  Glair,  with  the  advice 
of  a  council  of  war,  ordered  the  posts  to  be  abandoned. 
The  retreat  of  the  Americans  was  conducted  under  every 
possible  disadvantage — part  of  their  force  embarked  in 
open  boats  and  landed  at  Skenesborough,  while  the  rest 
marched  by  way  of  Castleton;  but  they  were  obliged  to 
leave  their  heavy  cannon,  and  on  their  march  lost  a  large 
part  of  their  baggage  and  stores,  while  their  rear  was 
harassed  by  the  British  troops.  An  action  took  place 
between  Colonel  Warner,  with  a  body  of  Americans,  and 
General  Frazer,  in  which  the  Americans  were  defeated, 
after  a  brave  resistance,  with  the  loss  of  a  valuable  officer, 
a  Colonel  Francis. 

The  prisoners  under  Cunningham  at  New  York  and 
some  of  the  officers  on  parole  felt  the  severity  of  this  disas- 
ter. Burgoyne  was  their  demi-god.  To  him  they  paid 
adoration,  says  Allen,  and  forgot  the  Lord,  their  God, 
and  served  Howe,  Burgoyne  and  Knyphausen;  they 
became  vile  in  their  own  imaginations,  and  their  foolish 
hearts  were  darkened,  while  professing  to  be  great  politi- 
cians, they  relied  on  foreign  and  merciless  invaders,  and 
with  seeking  the  ruin,  bloodshed  and  destruction  of  their 
country,  became  fools,  expecting  with  them  to  share  a 
dividend  in  the  confiscated  estates  of  their  neighbors  and 
countrymen,  who  fought  for  the  whole  country,  and  the 
religion  and  liberties  thereof.  Therefore,  God  gave  them 


154   Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

over  to  strong  delusions,  to  believe  a  lie,  that  they  might 
all  be  damned. 

The  25th  day  of  August  I  was  apprehended,  and,  under 
pretext  of  artful,  mean  and  pitiful  pretences  that  I  had 
infringed  on  my  parole,  taken  from  a  tavern  where  there 
were  more  than  a  dozen  officers  present,  and  in  the  very 
place  where  those  officers  and  myself  were  directed  to  be 
quartered,  put  under  a  strong  guard,  and  taken  to  New 
York,  where  I  expected  to  make  my  defence  before  the 
commanding  officer;  but  contrary  to  my  expectations, 
and  without  the  least  solid  pretence  of  justice  or  a  trial, 
was  again  encircled  with  a  strong  guard,  with  fixed  bayo- 
nets, and  conducted  to  the  provost  gaol,  in  a  lonely 
apartment  next  above  the  dungeon,  and  was  denied  all 
manner  of  subsistence,  either  by  purchase  or  allowance. 
The  second  day  I  offered  a  guinea  for  a  meal  of  victuals 
but  was  denied  it;  and  the  third  day  I  offered  eight 
Spanish  milled  dollars  for  a  like  favor,  but  was  denied,  and 
all  I  could  get  out  of  the  sergeant's  mouth  was  that  by 
G — d  he  would  obey  his  orders. 

I  now  perceived  myself  to  be  again  in  substantial 
trouble.  In  this  condition  I  formed  an  acquaintance 
with  a  Captain  Travis  of  Virginia,  who  was  in  the  dungeon 
below  me,  by  communication  through  a  little  hole  which 
was  cut  with  a  penknife  through  the  floor  of  my  apart- 
ment into  the  dungeon.  It  was  a  small  crevice  and 
through  it  I  could  discern  but  a  very  small  part  of  his 
face  at  once  when  he  applied  it  to  the  hole;  but  from  the 
discovery  of  him  in  the  situation  which  we  were  both  then 
in,  I  could  not  have  known  him  whom  I  found  to  be  true 
by  an  after  acquaintance.  I  could,  nevertheless,  hold  a 


Released  from  Captivity.  155 

conversation  with  him,  and  soon  perceived  him  to  be  a 
gentleman  of  high  spirits,  who  had  a  high  sense  of  honor 
and  felt  as  big  as  though  he  had  been  in  a  palace,  yet  he 
had  treasures  of  wrath  in  store  against  the  British.  In 
fine,  I  was  charmed  by  the  spirit  of  the  man.  He  had 
been  almost  or  quite  four  months  in  that  dungeon  with 
murderers,  thieves  and  every  species  of  criminals  and  all 
for  the  sole  crime  of  unshaken  fidelity  to  his  country;  but 
his  spirits  were  above  dejection  and  his  mind  uncon- 
querable. I  engaged  to  do  him  every  service  in  my  power, 
and  in  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  with  the  united  petitions 
of  the  officers  in  the  provost,  procured  his  dismission  from 
the  dark  mansion  of  fiends  to  the  apartments  of  his  peti- 
tioners. 

And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day,  at  the  going 
down  of  the  sun,  that  I  was  presented  with  a  piece  of 
boiled  pork,  and  some  biscuit  which  the  sergeant  gave 
me  to  understand  was  my  allowance,  and  I  fed  sweetly 
on  the  same ;  but  I  indulged  my  appetite  by  degrees,  and 
in  a  few  days  more  was  taken  from  that  apartment  and 
conducted  to  the  next  loft  or  story,  where  there  were 
above  twenty  continental  and  some  militia  officers,  who 
had  been  taken  and  imprisoned  there,  besides  some  private 
gentlemen  who  had  been  dragged  from  their  own  homes 
to  that  filthy  place  by  tories.  Several  of  every  denomina- 
tion mentioned  died  there,  some  before  and  others  after  I 
was  put  there. 

Captain  Vandyke  bore,  with  an  uncommon  fortitude, 
nearly  twenty  months'  confinement  in  this  place,  and  in 
the  meantime  was  very  serviceable  to  others  who  were 
confined  with  him.  The  allegation  against  him,  as  the 


156    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

cause  of  his  confinement,  was  very  extraordinary.  He 
was  accused  of  setting  fire  to  the  city  of  New  York,  at  the 
time  the  west  part  of  it  was  consumed,  when  it  was  a 
known  fact  that  he  had  been  in  the  provost  a  week  before 
the  fire  broke  out,  and  was  confined  in  the  same  cell  with 
Captain  Nathan  Hale,  whom  I  did  not  see  but  who  was 
cruelly  hanged  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  on  the  charge 
of  being  a  spy.  Frivolous  were  the  ostensible  accusations 
against  most  of  those  who  were  there  confined  except  the 
case  of  two  militia  officers  who  were  taken  in  their  at- 
tempting to  escape  from  their  parole  and  were  deliber- 
ately starved  to  death. 

Mr.  William  Miller,  a  committeeman  from  West 
Chester  county,  state  of  New  York,  was  taken  from 
his  bed  in  the  dead  of  the  night  by  his  tory  neighbors  and 
was  starved  for  three  days  and  nights  in  an  apartment  of 
the  same  gaol;  add  to  this  the  denial  of  fire  and  that  in 
a  cold  season  of  the  year,  in  which  time  he  walked  day 
and  night  to  defend  himself  against  the  frost,  and  when 
he  complained  of  such  reprehensible  conduct,  the  word 
rebel  or  committeeman  was  deemed  by  the  enemy  a 
sufficient  atonement  for  any  inhumanity  that  they  could 
invent  or  inflict.  He  was  a  man  of  good  natural  under- 
standing, a  close  and  sincere  friend  to  the  liberties  of 
America,  and  endured  fourteen  months'  cruel  imprison- 
ment with  that  magnaminity  of  soul  which  reflects  honor 
on  himself  and  country. 

Major  Levi  Wells,  and  Captain  Ozias  Bissell  were 
apprehended  and  taken  under  guard  from  their  parole  on 
Long  Island  to  the  provost  on  as  fallacious  pretences  as 
the  former,  and  were  there  continued  till  their  exchange 


Released  from  Captivity.  157 

took  place,  which  was  near  five  months.  Their  fidelity 
and  zealous  attachment  to  their  country's  cause,  which 
was  more  than  commonly  conspicuous,  was  undoubtedly 
the  real  cause  of  their  confinement. 

Major  Brinton  Payne,  Captain  Flahaven  and  Captain 
Randolph,  who  had  at  different  times  distinguished  them- 
selves by  their  bravery,  especially  at  the  several  actions 
in  which  they  were  taken,  were  all  the  provocations  they 
gave,  for  being  arrested  and  for  which  they  suffered  about 
a  year's  confinement  each  in  the  same  filthy  gaol. 

A  few  weeks  after  my  confinement  on  the  like  falla- 
cious and  wicked  pretences,  they  brought  to  the  same  place 
from  his  parole  on  Long  Island,  Major  Otho  Holland 
Williams,  of  the  continental  army.  In  his  character  were 
united  the  gentleman,  officer,  soldier  and  friend.  He 
walked  through  the  prison  with  an  air  of  great  disdain. 
Said  he,  "Is  this  the  treatment  which  gentlemen  of  the 
continental  army  are  to  expect  from  the  rascally  British 
when  in  their  power?  Heaven  forbid  it!"  He  was  con- 
tinued there  about  five  months  and  then  exchanged  for 
a  British  Major. 

John  Fell,  Esq.  afterward  a  member  of  Congress  from 
the  state  of  New  Jersey,  was  taken  from  his  own  house  by 
a  gang  of  infamous  tories  and  by  order  of  a  British  general 
was  sent  to  the  provost  where  he  was  continued  near  one 
year.  The  stench  of  the  gaol,  which  was  very  loathsome 
and  unhealthy,  occasioned  a  hoarseness  of  the  lungs 
which  proved  fatal  to  many  who  were  there  confined,  and 
reduced  this  gentleman  near  to  the  point  of  death;  he  was, 
indeed,  given  over  by  his  friends  who  were  about  him,  and 
he  himself  concluded  he  must  die.  I  could  not  endure 


158    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

the  thought  that  so  worthy  a  friend  to  America  should 
have  his  life  stolen  from  him  in  such  a  mean,  base  and 
scandalous  manner,  and  that  his  family  and  friends 
should  be  bereaved  of  so  great  and  desirable  a  blessing 
as  his  further  care,  usefulness  and  example  might  prove 
to  them.  I  therefore  wrote  a  letter  to  General  Robertson 
who  commanded  in  town,  and  was  touched  with  the 
most  sensible  feelings  of  humanity,  which  dictated  my 
pen  to  paint  dying  distress  in  such  lively  colors  that  it 
wrought  conviction  even  on  the  obduracy  of  a  British 
general  and  produced  his  order  to  remove  the  now  hon- 
orable John  Fell,  out  of  a  gaol  to  private  lodgings  in  town; 
in  consequence  of  which  he  slowly  recovered  his  health. 
There  is  so  extraordinary  a  circumstance  which  inter- 
vened concerning  this  letter  that  it  is  worth  noticing. 
Previous  to  sending  it  I  exhibited  the  same  to  the  gentle- 
man on  whose  behalf  it  was  written,  for  his  approbation, 
and  he  forbid  me  to  send  it  in  the  most  positive  and 
explicit  terms;  the  reason  he  gave  was  that  the  enemy 
knew,  by  every  morning's  report,  the  condition  of  all  the 
prisoners,  his  in  particular  he  said,  as  he  had  been  gradu- 
ally coming  to  his  end  for  a  considerable  time,  and  they 
very  well  knew  it,  and  likewise  determined  it  should  be 
accomplished,  as  they  had  served  many  others;  that  to 
ask  a  favor  would  give  the  merciless  enemy  occasion  to 
triumph  over  him  in  his  last  moments  and  therefore  he 
would  ask  no  favors  from  them,  but  had  resigned  himself 
to  his  fate.  But  the  letter  I  sent  without  his  knowledge, 
and  I  confess  I  had  but  little  expectations  from  it,  yet 
could  not  be  easy  till  I  had  sent  it.  It  may  be  worth  a 
remark,  that  this  gentleman  was  an  Englishman  born,  and 


THE   DECLARATION   OF   INDEPENDENCE  BEAD   TO  THE  ARMY. 


Released  from  Captivity.  159 

from  the  beginning  of  the  revolution,   has   invariably 
asserted  and  maintained  the  cause  of  liberty. 

The  British  have  made  so  extensive  an  improvement 
of  the  provost  during  the  present  revolution,  till  of  late, 
that  a  very  short  definition  will  be  sufficient  for  the  dullest 
apprehensions.  It  may  be  with  propriety  called  the 
British  Inquisition,  and  is  calculated  to  support  their  op- 
pressive measures  and  designs  by  suppressing  the  spirit 
of  liberty.  Here  were  promiscuously  confined  not  only 
gentlemen  of  the  American  army  and  American  citizens 
who  were  not  soldiers,  but  also  the  criminals  of  every 
species  and  the  most  infamous  wretches  of  the  British 
troops.  The  different  classes,  however,  separated  into 
companies  and  held  as  much  aloof  from  one  another  as 
circumstances  would  allow.  It  was  at  the  option  of  a 
villainous  sergeant  who  had  charge  of  the  provost  to  take 
any  gentleman  from  his  room  and  put  him  into  the 
dungeon — and  this  was  often  done.  At  two  different  times 
I  was  taken  down  stairs  for  that  purpose  by  a  file  of  sol- 
diers, with  fixed  bayonets  and  the  sergeant  brandishing  his 
sword  at  the  same  time,  but  having  been  brought  to  the 
door  of  the  dungeon,  I  there  flattered  the  vanity  of  the 
sergeant  whose  name  was  Keef ,  by  which  means  I  secured 
the  surprising  favor  of  being  returned  to  my  companions. 
But  some  of  the  high  mettled  young  gentlemen  could  not 
bear  his  insolence  and  determined  to  keep  at  a  distance,  and 
neither  please  nor  displease  the  villain,  but  none  could  keep 
clear  of  his  abuse;  however,  mild  measures  were  the  best. 

He  did  not  hesitate  to  call  us  d d  rebels,  and  abuse  us 

with  the  coarsest  language.     Captains  Flahaven,  Ran- 
dolph and  Mercer  were  the  objects  of  his  most  flagrant 


160    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

and  repeated  abuses,  who  were  many  times  taken  to  the 
dungeon  and  there  continued  at  his  pleasure.  Captain 
Flahaven  took  cold  in  the  dungeon  and  was  in  a  declining 
state  of  health,  but  an  exchange  delivered  him  and  in  all 
probability  saved  his  life. 

It  was  very  mortifying  to  bear  with  the  insolence  of 
such  a  vicious  and  ill-bred  imperious  rascal,  as  well  as 
with  Cunningham,  the  provost  marshal.  Remonstrances 
against  him  were  preferred  to  the  commander  of  the  town, 
but  no  relief  could  be  obtained;  for  his  superiors  were 
undoubtedly  well  pleased  with  his  abusive  conduct  to  the 
gentlemen  under  the  severities  of  his  power;  and  remon- 
strating against  his  infernal  conduct  only  served  to  con- 
firm him  in  authority;  and  for  this  reason  I  never  made 
any  remonstrances  on  the  subject  but  only  stroked  him 
for  I  knew  that  he  was  but  a  cat's  paw  in  the  hands  of  the 
British  officers  and  provost,  and  that  if  he  should  use  us 
well,  he  would  immediately  be  put  out  of  that  trust  and  a 
worse  man  appointed  to  succeed  him.  But  there  was  no 
need  of  making  a  new  appointment  for  Cunningham,  their 
provost  marshal  and  Keef  his  deputy  were  as  great 
rascals  as  their  army  could  boast  of  except  one  Joshua 
Loring,  an  infamous  tory,  who  was  Commissary  of  pris- 
oners; nor  can  any  of  these  be  supposed  to  be  equally 
criminal  with  General  William  Howe  and  his  associates 
who  prescribed  and  directed  the  murders  and  cruelties 
which  were  by  them  perpetrated.  This  Loring  is  a  mon- 
ster. There  is  not  his  like  in  human  shape  unless  it  be 
Cunningham  himself.  Loring  exhibits  a  smiling  counte- 
nance, seems  to  wear  a  phiz  of  humanity  but  has  been 
instrumentally  capable  of  the  most  consummate  acts  of 


Released  from  Captivity.  161 

wickedness  which  were  first  projected  by  an  abandoned 
British  council,  clothed  with  the  authority  of  Howe, 
murdering  premeditatedly  in  cold  blood,  near  or  quite 
two  thousand  helpless  prisoners,  and  that  in  the  most 
clandestine,  mean  and  shameful  manner,  at  New  York. 

The  sixth  day  of  July,  1777,  General  St.  Clair  and 
the  army  under  his  command,  evacuated  Ticonderoga, 
and  retreated  with  the  main  body  through  Rutland 
county  to  Hubbardton  and  on  to  Castleton.  St.  Glair's 
rear  guard,  commanded  by  Colonel  Seth  Warner,  was 
attacked  at  Hubbardton  by  the  enemy,  two  thousand 
strong,  commanded  by  General  Frazer.  Warner's  com- 
mand consisted  of  his  own  and  two  other  regiments, 
commanded  by  Generals  Francis  and  Hale  and  some 
scattering  and  enfeebled  soldiers.  His  whole  force,  ac- 
cording to  reliable  information,  did  not  exceed  one  thou- 
sand men,  part  of  whom  were  Green  Mountain  Boys; 
about  three  hundred  were  not  brought  into  action  but 
held  in  reserve.  The  enemy  advanced  boldly  and  began 
to  form  within  sixty  yards  of  the  Americans.  Colonel  War- 
ner and  General  Francis  having  formed  their  regiments  did 
not  wait  for  the  enemy  to  attack;  but  gave  them  a  heavy 
fire  from  their  whole  line  which  was  instantly  returned 
with  great  bravery.  General  Hale,  being  apprized  of  the 
danger,  left  Warner  and  Francis  to  stand  the  blunt  of 
attack  and  fled,  but  in  attempting  to  escape  was  attacked 
by  a  considerable  number  of  the  enemy  acting  as  a  rear 
guard,  and  with  his  entire  regiment  surrendered  with 
little  or  no  resistance. 

The  engagement  was  short  but  decisive.  General 
Francis  fell  at  the  first  charge,  but  Colonel  Warner  and 


162    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

the  officers  under  his  command  fought  with  great  despera- 
tion. The  enemy  gave  way  on  the  right  and  left  but 
formed  again,  and  renewed  the  attack.  In  the  meantime 
the  British  grenadiers  who  occupied  the  center  of  the 
enemy's  line  maintained  their  ground  and  finally  carried 
it  with  the  point  of  the  bayonet;  Warner  retreated  with 
reluctance.  The  American  loss  was  about  thirty  men 
killed  while  that  of  the  enemy  was  three  hundred  killed, 
including  a  Major  Grant.  Colonel  Allen  says  that  the 
British  complained  because  the  Green  Mountain  Boys 
took  sight  before  firing,  which  was  the  cause  they  as- 
signed for  the  heavy  mortality.  This  seems  to  be  an 
inherent  quality  in  American  soldiers,  judging  from  the 
results  of  our  recent  war  with  Spain. 

The  next  movement  of  the  enemy  of  any  material 
consequence  was  their  attack  on  Bennington.  For  this 
purpose  General  Burgoyne  detached  Colonel  Baum  with 
five  hundred  British  and  one  hundred  Indians.  Colonel 
Brayman  with  about  five  hundred  men  was  sent  to  rein- 
force him  but  did  not  arrive  in  time.  On  the  sixteenth 
of  August,  General  Stark  with  about  eight  hundred 
militiamen  atttacked  Colonel  Baum  in  his  entrenched 
camp  about  six  miles  from  Bennington  and  killed  or  took 
prisoners  nearly  the  whole  detachment.  The  next  day 
General  Stark  attacked  and  defeated  Brayman  who  had 
been  sent  to  reinforce  Baum.  In  these  actions  the  British 
lost  one  hundred  and  forty  men  killed  and  wounded  and 
about  seven  hundred  captured,  while  the  Americans 
practically  sustained  no  loss.  These  successes  it  may 
well  be  imagined  served  to  revive  the  spirits  of  the 
people.  However,  the  advantages  gained  by  the  British 


Keleased  from  Captivity.  163 

on  the  Mohawk  by  Colonel  St.  Leger  practically  coun- 
ter-balanced the  successes,  but  this  officer  attacking  Fort 
Stanwix  was  repelled  with  severe  losses  and  obliged  to 
abandon  a  further  attempt. 

The  purpose  of  the  attack  on  Bennington  was  to 
demolish  it  and  subject  its  inhabitants,  to  whom  they  had 
a  great  aversion,  to  all  the  indignities  of  which  they  were 
capable.  With  one  hundred  and  fifty  well-chosen  men  and 
with  the  fullest  expectations  of  success,  the  enemy  chose  a 
strong  eminence,  fortified  it  by  throwing  up  breastworks, 
and  with  two  pieces  of  cannon  made  ready  for  the  attack. 
But  the  citizens  of  Bennington  being  aware  of  the  inten- 
tions of  the  enemy,  had  in  the  meantime  procured  a 
number  of  militiamen  from  New  Hampshire,  together 
with  a  number  of  the  militia  from  Berkshire  county, 
Massachusetts,  and  with  a  number  of  the  Green  Mountain 
Boys,  under  the  command  of  the  intrepid  General  John 
Stark,  awaited  the  British  advance.  In  numbers  the 
Americans  were  about  equal  to  the  enemy.  Colonel 
Herrick,  who  commanded  the  Green  Mountain  Rangers, 
was  second  in  command;  he  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  territory  fortified  by  the  enemy;  he  proposed  to 
make  an  attack  from  all  sides  at  once  so  as  to  prevent 
reinforcements  from  reaching  the  fortifications.  This  plan 
being  approved  by  General  Stark  and  his  advisers,  the 
little  brigade  of  undisciplined  militiamen,  with  their  long, 
brown  firelocks,  without  bayonets  and  without  cannon, 
made  a  desperate  assault  on  the  enemy.  The  battle 
occurred  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  August,  1777,  and 
in  the  face  of  a  dreadful  fire,  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
the  Americans  had  silenced  the  enemy's  cannon,  and  in 


164    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

another  quarter  had  swept  over  the  breastworks,  taken 
possession  of  their  fortifications,  killing  and  capturing 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  enemy.  This  victory  im- 
mortalized General  Stark  and  made  Bennington  famous 
in  American  history. 

Among  the  enemy's  killed  was  found  Colonel  Baum, 
their  commander,  a  Colonel  Pfester,  who  headed  an  in- 
famous gang  of  tories,  and  a  large  part  of  his  command; 
in  fact  Baum's  force  was  practically  annihilated.  Among 
the  prisoners,  all  more  or  less  wounded,  was  Major  Mel- 
bome,  second  in  command,  a  number  of  British  and 
Hessian  officers,  surgeons,  etc.,  and  more  than  one  hun- 
dred of  Pfester's  command.  The  prisoners  after  being 
gathered  together  were  sent  to  the  meeting  house  in  the 
town,  under  a  strong  guard;  General  Stark  not  apprehend- 
ing any  immediate  danger,  the  militia  were  ordered  to 
stack  their  arms  and  were  permitted  to  scatter  about 
town  to  rest  and  to  obtain  food  and  drink  which  they 
had  been  without  for  more  than  twenty-four  hours. 
In  this  situation  they  were  suddenly  attacked  by  a  rein- 
forcment  of  eleven  hundred  of  the  enemy,  commanded 
by  Governor  Skene,  with  two  field  pieces.  They  ad- 
vanced in  regular  order  and  kept  up  an  incessant  fire  with 
their  field  pieces  while  the  militia,  who  in  the  meantime 
recovered  their  arms,  were  slowly  retreating  before  them. 
In  the  meantime  Colonel  Warner,  with  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  men  of  his  regiment  who  were  not  in  the  first 
action,  arrived  and  attacked  the  enemy  with  great  fury. 
Warner  was  eager  for  revenge  on  account  of  the  surprise 
at  Hubbardton  where  the  brave  Colonel  Francis  was  killed. 
Soon  after,  General  Stark  and  Colonel  Herrick  brought 


Released  from  Captivity.  165 

on  more  of  the  scattered  militia  and  the  action  became 
general.  In  a  few  minutes  the  enemy  was  forced  from 
their  cannon  and  fled  in  disorder  in  all  directions;  the 
shouts  of  victory  were  a  second  time  proclaimed  in  favor 
of  the  militia. 

The  enemy's  loss  in  killed  and  prisoners  in  these  two 
actions  amounted  to  more  than  one  thousand  two 
hundred  men,  while  that  of  the  Americans  did  not  exceed 
fifty  men.  This  was  a  hard  stroke  for  the  enemy,  but 
their  pride  would  not  permit  them  to  hesitate  in  their 
attempt  to  vanquish  the  country.  As  an  illustration  of 
their  assumption  and  arrogancy  the  following  proclama- 
tion by  General  Burgoyne  will  be  found  both  interesting 
and  amusing: 

BURGOYNE 'S    PROCLAMATION. 

By  John  Burgoyne,  Esq.  Lieutenant-General  of  his 
Majesty's  armies  in  America,  Colonel  of  the  Queen's 
regiment  of  light  dragoons,  Governor  of  Fort  William  in 
North  Britain,  one  of  the  Representatives  of  the  Com- 
mons of  Great  Britain  in  Parliament,  and  commanding 
an  army  and  fleet  employed  on  an  expedition  from  Canada 
etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

The  forces  entrusted  to  my  command  are  designed  to 
act  in  concert  and  upon  a  common  principle  with  the 
numerous  armies  and  fleets  which  already  display,  in 
every  quarter  of  America,  the  power,  the  justice  and  when 
properly  sought,  the  mercy  of  the  King. 

The  cause  in  which  the  British  arms  are  thus  exerted 
applies  to  the  most  affecting  interests  of  the  human  heart ; 
and  the  military  servants  of  the  crown,  at  first  called 
forth  for  the  sole  purpose  of  restoring  the  rights  of  the 


166    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

constitution,  now  combine  with  love  of  their  country,  and 
duty  to  their  sovereign  the  other  extensive  incitements 
which  spring  from  a  due  sense  of  the  general  privileges  of 
mankind.  To  the  eyes  and  ears  of  the  temperate  part  of 
the  public,  and  to  the  breasts  of  suffering  thousands  in 
the  provinces,  be  the  melancholy  appeal,  whether  the 
present  unnatural  rebellion  has  not  been  made  a  founda- 
tion for  the  completest  system  of  tyranny  that  ever  God 
in  his  displeasure  suffered  for  a  time  to  be  exercised  over 
the  forward  and  stubborn  generation. 

Arbitrary  imprisonment,  confiscation  of  property, 
persecution  and  torture,  unprecedented  in  the  inquisitions 
of  the  Romish  church,  are  among  the  palpable  enormities 
that  verify  the  affirmative.  These  are  inflicted  by  assem- 
blies and  communities  who  dare  to  profess  themselves 
friends  to  liberty,  upon  the  most  quiet  subjects,  without 
distinction  of  age  or  sex,  for  the  sole  crime,  often  for  the 
sole  suspicion,  of  having  adhered  in  principle  to  the  gov- 
ernment under  which  they  were  born,  and  to  which  by 
every  tie,  divine  and  human,  they  owe  allegiance.  To 
consummate  these  shocking  proceedings,  the  profanation 
of  religion  is  added  to  the  most  profligate  prostitution  of 
common  reason ;  the  consciences  of  men  are  set  at  naught 
and  multitudes  are  compelled,  not  only  to  bear  arms  but 
also  to  swear  subjection  to  an  usurpation  they  abhor. 

Animated  by  these  considerations  at  the  head  of 
troops  in  the  full  powers  of  health,  discipline  and  valor, 
determined  to  strike  where  necessary,  and  anxious  to 
spare  where  possible,  I,  by  these  presents,  invite  and 
exhort  all  persons  in  all  places,  where  the  progress  of  the 
army  may  point — and  by  the  blessing  of  God,  I  will  extend 


Released  from  Captivity.  167 

it  far — to  maintain  such  a  conduct  as  may  justify  me  in 
protecting  their  lands,  habitations  and  families.  The 
intention  of  this  address  is  to  hold  forth  security,  not 
depredation,  to  the  country.  To  those  whom  spirit  and 
principle  may  induce  to  partake  of  the  glorious  task  of 
redeeming  their  countrymen  from  dungeons,  and  re-estab- 
lishing the  blessings  of  legal  government,  I  offer  encour- 
agement and  employment,  and  upon  the  first  intelligence 
of  their  associations,  I  will  find  means  to  assist  their 
undertakings.  The  domestic,  the  industrious,  the  infirm 
and  even  the  timid  inhabitants,  I  am  desirous  to  protect, 
provided  they  remain  quietly  in  their  houses;  that  they 
do  not  suffer  their  cattle  to  be  removed,  nor  their  corn,  nor 
forage  to  be  secreted  nor  destroyed;  that  they  do  not 
break  up  their  bridges  or  roads;  nor  by  any  other  act, 
directly  or  indirectly,  endeavor  to  obstruct  the  operations 
of  the  King's  troops  or  supply  or  assist  those  of  the  enemy. 
Every  species  of  provisions  brought  to  my  camp,  will  be 
paid  for  at  an  equitable  rate,  and  in  solid  coin. 

In  consciousness  of  Christianity,  my  royal  master's 
clemency,  and  the  honor  of  soldiership,  I  have  dwelt  upon 
this  invitation  and  wished  for  more  persuasive  terms  to 
give  it  impression.  And  let  not  people  be  led  to  disregard 
it,  by  considering  their  distance  from  the  immediate  situa- 
tion of  my  camp.  I  have  but  to  give  stretch  to  the 
Indian  forces  under  my  direction  and  they  amount  to 
thousands,  to  overtake  the  hardened  enemies  of  Great 
Britain  and  America.  I  consider  them  the  same  wherever 
they  may  be. 

If,  notwithstanding  these  endeavors  and  sincere  incli- 
nations to  effect  them,  the  frenzy  of  hostility  should 


168    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

remain,  I  trust  I  shall  stand  acquitted  in  the  eyes  of  God 
and  men,  in  denouncing  and  executing  the  vengeance  of 
the  State  against  the  wilful  outcasts.  The  messengers  of 
justice  and  of  wrath  await  them  in  the  field;  and  devasta- 
tion, famine  and  every  concomitant  horror  that  a  reluc- 
tant but  indispensable  prosecution  of  military  duty  must 
occasion,  will  bar  the  way  to  their  return. 

J.  BURGOYNE. 
By  his  excellency  the  Lieutenant-General, 

ROBT.  KINGSTON,  Sec'y. 
Camp  near  Ticonderoga,  4th  July,  1777. 

General  Burgoyne  was  still  the  toast  among  the  British, 
and  the  hardships  of  their  prisoners  were,  in  a  great 
measure,  increased  or  diminished  in  proportion  to  the 
expectation  of  ultimate  success.  Burgoyne's  very  osten- 
tatious Proclamation  was  on  the  tongue  of  most  of  the 
soldiery,  especially  the  tories,  and  from  it  their  faith  in 
victory  was  raised  to  assurance.  I  wish,  says  Allen,  that 
my  countrymen  in  general  could  but  have  an  idea  of  the 
assuming  tyranny,  and  haughty,  malevolent  and  insolent 
behavior  of  the  enemy,  at  that  time;  and  from  thence 
discern  the  intolerable  calamities  which  the  men  of  this 
country  have  extricated  themselves  from,  by  their  public 
spiritedness  and  bravery. 

General  Burgoyne,  after  collecting  his  forces  and  stores, 
crossed  the  Hudson  with  a  view  of  reaching  Albany,  but 
the  American  army  after  the  many  recent  victories  was 
being  reinforced  daily,  which  resulted  in  his  detention  at 
Saratoga.  General  Horatio  Gates  now  took  the  command 
and  was  aided  by  Generals  Lincoln  and  Benedict  Arnold. 


Released  from  Captivity.  169 

On  the  evening  of  the  19th  of  September,  the  Americans 
attacked  the  British  army  with  great  determination  and 
bravery,  but  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  action.  The 
loss  of  the  enemy  was  about  five  hundred  kiUed  and 
wounded.  General  Burgoyne  was  confined  in  a  narrow 
pass,  having  the  Hudson  on  one  side  and  impassable 
woods  on  the  other;  a  body  of  Americans  was  in  his  rear; 
he  had  ordered  his  boats  burned  so  that  retreat  would 
be  impossible;  an  army  of  thirteen  thousand  men 
had  been  collected  and  opposed  him  in  front.  On  the 
7th  of  October,  the  armies  came  to  a  second  action, 
this  time  at  Saratoga,  in  which  the  British  lost  General 
Frazer  together  with  a  large  number  of  officers  and  men. 
On  the  part  of  the  Americans,  the  loss  was  not  great,  but 
Generals  Benjamin  Lincoln  and  Benedict  Arnold  were 
wounded. 

In  an  admirable  selection  entitled  the  "  Black  Horse 
and  His  Rider, "  Charles  Sheppard  describes  this  engage- 
ment more  vividly  and  truthfully  than  any  historian  has 
yet  attempted.  When  defeat  seemed  certain  Benedict 
Arnold,  riding  a  black  horse,  appeared  before  the  retreating 
Americans  and  with  drawn  sword,  shouted:  "  Now,  cowards, 
advance  another  step  and  I'll  strike  you  to  the  heart! 
What !  You  Americans,  men,  and  fly  before  British  soldiers ! 
Back  again  and  face  them  once  more!  or  I  myself  will 
ride  you  down!"  The  appeal  was  not  in  vain,  the  Ameri- 
cans turned,  and  before  night  they  had  carried  the  heights 
and  Saratoga  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  patriots, 
with  few  fatalities. 

The  downfall  of  General  Burgoyne  and  surrender  of 
his  whole  army  ten  days  later,  together  with  5,100  men,  as 


170   Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame, 

many  guns  and  forty-two  cannon,  dashed  the  aspiring 
hopes  and  expectations  of  the  enemy  and  broke  the  spirit 
of  haughty  general  and  opulent  nation,  and  made  the  tories 
bite  the  dust  with  anguish.  The  valor  of  the  sons  of 
liberty,  together  with  that  of  their  brave  officers,  seemed 
in  an  instant  raised  to  the  clouds,  and  immortalize;! 
Horatio  Gates,and  has  had  a  tendency  to  lessen  the  stigma 
which  afterward  rested  on  the  name  of  the  brave  but 
misguided  Benedict  Arnold. 

No  sooner  had  the  knowledge  of  this  interesting  and 
important  event  reached  Louis  XVI,  King  of  France, 
than  that  unfortunate  but  just  ruler  "auspiciously  in- 
fluenced by  heaven  to  promote  the  reciprocal  interests 
and  happiness  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  France,  and  the 
new  and  rising  states  of  America,"  passed  the  decisive 
decree  that  the  United  States  of  America  should  be  free 
and  independent.  Vaunt  no  more,  Old  England,  says  an 
early  chronicler,  consider  you  are  but  an  Island  and  that 
your  power  has  been  continued  longer  than  the  exercise 
of  your  humanity.  Order  your  broken  and  vanquished 
battalions  to  retire  from  America,  the  scene  of  your 
cruelties.  Go  home  and  repent  in  dust  and  sackcloth  for 
your  aggravated  crimes.  The  cries  of  bereaved  parents, 
widows  and  orphans  reach  heaven,  and  you  are  abominated 
by  every  friend  of  America.  Take  your  friends,  the  tories 
with  you  and  be  gone,  and  drink  deep  of  the  cup  of  humil- 
iation. Make  peace  with  the  Princess  of  the  house  of 
Bourbon,  for  you  are  in  no  condition  to  wage  war  with 
them.  Your  veteran  soldiers  are  fallen  in  America  and 
your  glory  is  departed.  Be  quiet  and  pay  your  debts, 
especially  for  the  hire  of  the  Hessians.  There  is  no  other 


Released  from  Captivity.  171 

way  for  you  to  get  into  credit  again,  but  by  reformation 
and  plain  honesty,  which  you  have  despised;  for  your 
power  is  by  no  means  sufficient  to  support  your  vanity. 

I  have  had  an  opportunity  to  see  a  great  deal  of  British 
vanity,  and  felt  its  severe  effects,  and  learned  lessons  of 
wisdom  and  policy,  says  Allen,  when  I  wore  her  heavy 
irons,  and  bore  her  bitter  revilings  and  reproaches.  I 
have  something  of  a  smattering  of  philosophy  and  under- 
stand human  nature  in  all  its  stages  tolerably  well;  am 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  her  national  crimes,  and 
have  assured  her  that  they  not  only  cry  aloud  for  heaven's 
vengeance,  but  incite  mankind  to  rise  up  against  her. 
Virtue,  wisdom  and  policy  are  in  a  national  sense  always 
connected  with  power,  or  in  other  words  power  is  their 
offspring,  and  such  power  as  is  directed  by  virtue,  wisdom 
and  policy,  never  fails  finally  to  destroy  itself  as  England's 
has  done.  It  is  so  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  unfit  that 
it  should  be  otherwise;  for  if  it  was  not  so,  vanity,  injus- 
tice and  oppression  might  reign  triumphant  forever.  I 
know  there  are  still  individuals  in  England  who  retain 
their  virtue  and  consequently  their  honor  and  humanity. 
Those  I  really  pity  as  they  must  more  or  less  suffer  in  the 
calamity  in  which  the  nation  is  plunged  headlong;  but 
as  a  nation,  I  hate  and  despise  them.  My  affections  are 
Frenchified — I  glory  in  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  the  generous 
and  powerful  ally  of  these  States ;  am  fond  of  a  connection 
with  so  enterprising,  learned,  polite,  courteous  and  com- 
mercial a  nation,  and  am  sure  that  I  express  the  senti- 
ments and  feelings  of  all  of  the  friends  of  the  present 
revolution.  I  have  begun  to  learn  the  French  tongue 
and  recommend  it  to  my  countrymen  before  Hebrew, 


172    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

Greek,  or  Latin  (provided  but  one  of  them  is  to  be  at- 
tended to). 

Nothing  could  have  served  so  effectually  to  illuminate, 
polish  and  enrich  these  States  as  the  present  revolution, 
as  well  as  to  preserve  their  liberty.  Mankind  is  naturally 
too  national,  even  to  a  degree  of  bigotry.  Commercial 
intercourse  with  foreign  nations  has  a  great  and  necessary 
tendency  to  improve  mankind  and  erase  the  superstition 
of  the  mind  by  acquainting  them  that  human  nature, 
policy  and  interest  are  the  same  in  all  nations,  yet  at  the 
same  time  they  are  bartering  commodities  for  the  con- 
venience and  happiness  of  each  nation;  they  may  re- 
ciprocally exchange  such  part  of  their  customs  and  man- 
ners as  may  be  beneficial,  yet  learn  to  extend  charity  and 
goodwill  to  the  whole  world  of  mankind. 

I  was  confined  in  the  provost  gaol  at  New  York,  the 
26th  day  of  August,  1777,  and  continued  there  to  the  3rd 
day  of  May,  1778,  when  I  was  taken  out  under  guard,  and 
conducted  to  a  sloop  in  the  harbor  at  New  York,  in  which 
I  was  guarded  to  Staten  Island,  to  General  Campbell's 
quarters  where  I  was  admitted  to  eat  and  drink  with  the 
General,  and  several  other  British  officers  and  treated  for 
two  days  in  a  polite  manner.  As  I  was  drinking  wine 
with  them  one  evening,  I  made  an  observation  on  my 
transition  from  the  provost  criminals  to  the  company  of 
gentlemen;  adding  that  I  was  the  same  man  still  and 
should  give  the  British  credit  through  him  (speaking  to 
the  General)  for  two  days'  good  usage. 

The  next  day  Colonel  Archibald  Campbell,  who  was 
exchanged  for  me,  came  to  this  place,  conducted  by  Mr. 
Boudinot,  the  then  American  Commissary  of  prisoners 


Released  from  Captivity.  173 

and  saluted  me  in  a  handsome  manner,  saying  that  he 
never  was  more  glad  to  see  any  gentleman  in  his  life ;  and 
I  gave  him  to  understand  that  I  was  equally  glad  to  see 
him,  and  was  apprehensive  that  it  was  from  the  same 
motive.  The  gentlemen  present  laughed  at  the  fancy  and 
conjectured  that  sweet  liberty  was  the  foundation  of  our 
gladness;  so  we  took  a  glass  of  wine  together,  and  then 
I  was  accompanied  by  General  Campbell,  Colonel  Camp- 
bell, Mr.  Boudinot  and  a  number  of  British  officers  to 
the  boat  which  was  ready  to  sail  to  Elizabethtown  Point. 
Meanwhile  I  entertained  them  with  a  rehearsal  of  the 
cruelties  exercised  towards  our  prisoners  and  assured  them 
that  I  should  use  my  influence  that  their  prisoners  should 
be  treated  in  future  in  the  same  manner  as  they  should  in 
future  treat  ours;  that  I  thought  their  example  should 
be  applied  to  their  own  prisoners.  Then  we  exchanged  the 
decent  ceremonies  of  compliment  and  parted.  I  sailed 
to  the  point  aforesaid  and,  in  a  transport  of  joy,  landed 
on  liberty  ground,  and  as  I  advanced  into  the  country, 
received  the  acclamations  of  a  grateful  people. 

I  soon  fell  into  company  with  Colonel  Sheldon  of  the 
light  horse,  who  in  a  polite  and  obliging  manner  accom- 
panied me  to  general  headquarters  at  Valley  Forge,  where 
I  was  courteously  received  by  General  Washington,  with 
peculiar  marks  of  approbation  and  esteem,  and  was  intro- 
duced to  most  of  the  generals  and  many  of  the  principal 
officers  of  the  army,  who  treated  me  with  respect;  and 
after  having  offered  General  Washington  my  further 
services  in  behalf  of  my  country  as  soon  as  my  health, 
which  was  very  much  impaired,  would  admit,  and  obtain- 
ing his  license  to  return  home,  I  took  my  leave  of  his  Excel- 


174    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

lency  and  set  out  from  Valley  Forge  with  General  Gates 
and  his  suit  for  Fishkill,  where  we  arrived  the  latter  end 
of  May.  In  this  tour  the  General  was  pleased  to  treat 
me  with  the  familiarity  of  a  companion,  and  generosity 
of  a  lord,  and  to  him  I  made  known  some  striking  circum- 
stances which  occured  in  the  course  of  my  captivity.  I 
then  bid  farewell  to  my  noble  general  and  the  gentlemen 
of  his  retinue,  and  set  out  for  Bennington,  the  capital  of 
the  Green  Mountain  Boys,  where  I  arrived  the  evening 
of  the  last  day  of  May,  to  their  great  surprise ;  for  I  was 
to  them  as  one  risen  from  the  dead,  and  now  both  their 
joy  and  mine  was  complete.  Three  cannon  were  fired 
that  evening,  and  next  morning  Colonel  Herrick  gave 
orders,  and  fourteen  more  were  discharged,  welcoming 
me  to  Bennington,  my  usual  place  of  abode;  thirteen 
were  fired  for  the  United  States  and  one  for  young  Ver- 
mont. 


GENERAL   BURGOYNE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A    COUNTER    PROCLAMATION. 

Having  completed  the  history  of  the  events  connected 
with  the  captivity  of  Ethan  Allen,  we  now  resume  the 
account  of  the  controversy  between  the  settlers  on  the 
New  Hampshire  Grants  and  the  authorities  of  New  York, 
which  continued  until  the  war  with  Great  Britain  was 
well  advanced. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Grants  were  at  this  period 
(1775)  without  any  settled  form  of  government.  Com- 
munity of  interests  had  thus  far  kept  them  together  and 
given  energy  and  unanimity  to  their  proceedings.  The 
partial  relief  from  the  interference  of  the  New  York  au- 
thorities experienced  at  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
served  to  convince  them  of  the  weakness  of  their  po- 
litical ties,  and  of  the  necessity  of  a  better  internal  organ- 
ization. Accordingly,  at  the  close  of  the  year  1775,  a 
number  of  influential  individuals  went  to  Philadelphia 
where  the  Continental  Congress  was  then  in  session,  to 
procure  the  advice  of  that  body  relative  to  the  best  policy 
to  be  pursued  under  the  existing  circumstances.  No 
formal  measures  were  adopted  by  the  Congress,  however, 
in  relation  to  the  disputes  of  the  settlers;  but  upon  the 
return  of  the  delegates,  a  large  number  of  circulars 
setting  forth  the  opinions  of  several  influential  members 
of  Congress  in  favor  of  a  temporary  association  under 

175 


176    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame, 

proper  regulations  were  distributed  among  the  people  of 
New  Hampshire  and  Vermont. 

In  pursuance  of  these  recommendations,  a  convention 
of  delegates  from  all  sections  of  the  Green  Mountain 
country  assembled  at  Dorset,  N.  H.,  on  the  16th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1776.  A  petition  was  forwarded  to  Congress  in 
which  a  brief  sketch  of  the  controversy  with  New  York 
was  given,  expressing  a  willingness  to  bear  their  pro- 
portionate share  of  the  burdens  arising  from  the  war  then 
in  progress.  They  also  declared  their  unwillingness  to  be 
considered  in  any  manner  subjects  to  the  authority  or 
jurisdiction  of  New  York.  The  Congressional  Com- 
mittee to  which  the  petition  was  referred,  recommended 
the  petitioners  to  submit  for  the  present,  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  New  York,  and  assist  their  fellow  countrymen  in 
the  great  contest  with  Great  Britain;  the  committee  de- 
clared that  such  submission  would  not  prejudice  their 
right  to  any  land  in  controversy,  or  be  construed  as  ad- 
mitting the  jurisdiction  of  New  York  over  the  Green 
Mountain  country  when  the  troubles  with  England 
should  be  ended.  Not  being  considered  favorable  to  the 
settlers  on  the  Grants,  the  delegate  who  presented  the 
petition  to  Congress  withdrew  it  before  it  received  the 
final  action  of  that  body. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  following  the  presentation  of  the 
petition,  Congress  announced  to  the  world  the  passage  of 
the  immortal  Declaration  of  Independence.  This  placed 
the  people  of  Vermont  in  a  situation  more  difficult  and 
embarrassing  than  they  were  before  and  much  speculation 
was  indulged  in  by  the  settlers  in  regard  to  the  course 
they  should  pursue.  It  was  urged  by  some  that  they 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  177 

should  immediately  place  themselves  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  New  Hampshire,  while  others  thought  that  they 
should  submit  to  the  authority  of  New  York.  The  more 
resolute  and  influential,  among  whom  was  Ethan  Allen, 
Seth  Warren  and  Remember  Baker,  were,  however,  in 
favor  of  assuming  the  powers  of  independent  state  gov- 
ernment and  hazarding  the  consequences.  That  the 
difficulty  might  be  amicably  settled,  or  at  least  an  attempt 
be  made,  the  people  assembled  in  convention  at  Dorset 
on  the  24th  of  July,  1776.  An  association  was  agreed 
upon  for  the  defense  of  their  common  country.  A  reso- 
lution was  also  adopted  declaring  that  they  would  not 
associate  with,  or  submit,  to  the  provincial  government 
of  either  New  Hampshire  or  New  York  pending  the  war 
with  England.  The  Convention  adjourned  to  meet  on 
the  25th  of  September,  when  it  was  unanimously  resolved 
"to  take  suitable  measures,  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  declare 
the  New  Hampshire  Grants  a  free  and  separate  District. ' ' 
At  the  third  session  of  the  Convention,  held  on  the  15th 
of  January,  1777,  it  was  declared  that' "this  Convention, 
whose  members  are  duly  chosen  by  the  free  voice  of  their 
constitutents,  in  the  several  towns  on  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants,  in  our  names,  and  in  behalf  of  our  con- 
stitutuents,  do  hereby  proclaim  and  publicly  declare  that 
the  district  or  territory  comprehending  and  usually  known 
by  the*  name  and  description  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Grants,  of  right  ought  to  be,  and  is  hereby  declared  ever 
after  to  be,  a  free  and  independent  jurisdiction,  or  State? 
and  to  be  hereafter  called,  known  and  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  New  Connecticut  or  Vermont.  This 
declaration  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Convention, 


178    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

and  a  petition,  or  rather,  a  copy  of  the  above  resolution, 
was  forwarded  to  the  Congress  at  Philadelphia  in  which 
it  was  announced  "to  all  the  world"  that  the  territory  to 
be  known  as  Vermont,  but  formerly  called  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants,  was  now  and  henceforth  a  free  and 
independent  State.  The  so-called  petition  closed  by 
praying  that  they  might  be  acknowledged  by  Congress, 
and  that  delegates  from  Vermont  might  be  admitted  to 
seats  in  that  body. 

These  measures  were  considered  by  the  legislatures 
of  the  neighboring  States.  New  Hampshire,  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  were  willing  that  Vermont 
should  become  a  member  of  the  confederacy,  but  New 
York  regarded  the  request  as  treason  and  rebellion  to  her 
authority.  In  this  state  of  things,  communications 
emanating  from  two  different  conventions  of  the  people 
of  New  York,  were  addressed  to  the  Congress  in  which  the 
proceedings  of  Vermont  were  represented  as  resulting 
from  the  acts  and  instigations  of  designing  men,  and  not 
from  a  desire  of  the  inhabitants  to  renounce  their  alle- 
giance to  the  authority  of  New  York.  Ethan  Allen,  of 
Bennington,  was  named  as  the  chief  instigator  and  the 
principal  in  most  of  the  disturbances  on  the  Grants. 

After  the  adoption  of  various  measures  by  both  Ver- 
mont and  New  York,  Congress  at  last  took  up  the  matter, 
and  the  communications  of  both  parties  were  referred  to 
a  committee  of  the  whole;  the  committee,  among  other 
things,  resolved  "That  Congress  would  not  recommend 
or  countenance  anything  injurious  to  the  rights  and  juris- 
diction of  the  several  communities  herein  represented." 
"That  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  179 

cannot  be  justified  in  their  declaration  of  Independence, 
by  the  example  of  the  United  Colonies  nor  by  any  act 
or  resolution  of  Congress."  "That  the  petition  of  Ver- 
mont to  be  recognized  as  an  independent  State,  and  to 
have  her  delegates  admitted  to  seats  in  Congress,  be  dis- 
missed." 

While  these  important  matters  were  being  con- 
sidered by  Congress,  the  people  of  Vermont  were  engaged 
in  forming  a  constitution  for  the  regulation  of  their  civil 
government.  A  convention,  composed  of  the  same 
delegates  which  declared  the  independence  of  Vermont 
met  at  Windsor  oh  the  first  Wednesday  in  June,  1777, 
and  appointed  a  committee  to  make  a  draft  of  a  state 
constitution.  A  resolution  was  also  adopted  recom- 
mending that  each  town  elect  delegates  to  meet  in  con- 
vention at  Windsor  on  the  second  day  of  the  following 
June  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  and  adopting  said 
constitution.  The  Convention  assembled  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  and  after  a  long  and  serious  discussion 
a  constitution  was  read  and  adopted.  It  was,  however, 
revised  at  a  subsequent  Convention,  which  met  at  Wind- 
sor, and  the  first  election  under  the  new  constitution  was 
ordered  to  be  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  March,  1778. 

The  determination  of  Vermont  to  maintain  her  inde- 
pendence at  all  hazards  evidently  contributed  to  effect 
an  alteration  in  the  policy  of  New  York.  On  the  23rd  of 
February,  1778,  Governor  Clinton  issued  a  proclamation 
in  which  he  confirmed  the  titles  of  the  settlers  to  their 
lands  in  certain  cases,  and  made  several  concessions  in 
their  favor,  but  the  right  of  New  York  to  extend  her 
jurisdiction  over  the  Grants  was  not  relinquished.  The 


180    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

people  were  commanded,  "  at  their  peril  to  yield  obedience 
and  allegiance' '  to  New  York,  and  in  all  respects  to  gov- 
ern themselves  as  peaceable  and  quiet  citizens.  To  this 
proclamation  Ethan  Allen,  ever  on  the  alert  to  detect 
political  cunning  and  always  willing  to  expose  it,  pub- 
lished the  following  answer: 

This  Proclamation  [the  one  issued  by  Governor  Clin- 
ton, May  23,  1778],  after  mentioning  a  disaffection  of 
many  persons,  inhabiting  the  northeast  parts  of  the 
county  of  Albany  and  certain  parts  of  the  counties  of 
Charlotte,  Cumberland  and  Gloucester,  proceeds  to  affirm 
that  these  tracts  of  country  were  clearly  included  within 
the  ancient,  original,  true  and  lately  established  bounds 
of  the  state  of  New  York. 

That  many,  nay  almost  the  whole  of  the  inhabitants 
in  those  counties,  viz.  the  State  of  Vermont,  are  disaffected 
to  the  government  of  New  York,  will  not  be  disputed. 
This  is  a  fact;  but  it  is  not  a  fact  that  the  ancient,  original 
and  true  bounds  of  New  York  included  those  lands.  The 
first  intimation  that  ever  saluted  the  ears  of  the  public 
asserting  this  doctrine,  was  from  a  proclamation  of  Gov- 
ernor Tryon,  dated  the  llth  day  of  December,  1771. 
which  begins  thus:  "Whereas,  it  is  the  ancient  and  in- 
contestable right  of  this  colony  to  extend  to  the  Connecticut 
river  as  its  eastern  boundary."  This  assertion  has  been 
answered  at  large,  in  my  treatise  on  the  conduct  of  this 
government  towards  the  New  Hampshire  settlers;  to 
which  I  refer  the  reader,  and  at  present  observe  that  as  the 
quoted  assertions  in  these  Proclamations  are  wholly  with- 
out foundation,  they  need  only  to  be  as  positively  denied 
as  they  are  asserted.  The  fact  is  that  the  tract  of  land 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  181 

which  now  comprehends  the  State  of  Vermont  was  univer- 
sally known  to  be  a  part  of  the  government  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. Thus  it  was  placed  by  all  Geographers  in  their 
maps  until  the  year  1764,  when  the  English  King,  for 
certain  political  reasons,  which  I  shall  mention,  extended 
the  jurisdiction  of  New  York  over  the  premises,  by  his 
special  authority.  At  the  time  of  the  alteration  of  this 
jurisdiction,  jealousies  had  fired  the  minds  of  King  and 
Parliament  against  the  growth  and  rising  power  of 
America,  and  at  this  time  they  began  to  advance  men  and 
governments  into  power,  with  a  political  design  to  crush 
the  liberties  of  America.  New  York  had  ever  been  their 
favorite  government.  They  could  almost  vie  with  Great 
Britain  in  the  art  of  vassalaging  common  people,  and  in 
erasing  every  idea  of  liberty  from  the  human  mind,  by 
making  and  keeping  them  poor  and  servile.  This,  Great 
Britain  well  knew  and  therefore  fleeced  a  large  territory 
from  New  Hampshire  and  added  it  to  New  York,  to  de- 
press the  power  of  the  one  and  enlarge  and  extend  the 
other.  A  well-concerted  plan;  but  the  Green  Mountain 
Boys  disconcerted  it  by  throwing  their  weight  into  the 
scale  of  Congress,  which,  thank  God,  has  fairly  prepond- 
erated. Thus  may  be  seen  the  design  as  well  as  date,  of 
the  original,  ancient  and  true  bounds  of  the  state  of  Ver- 
mont; and  for  the  same  reason  it  was  thus  extended  by 
Great  Britain,  it  will  undoubtedly  be  curtailed  by  Con- 
gress. 

As  to  the  acts  of  outlawry,  mentioned  .in  the  Procla- 
mation, they  died  a  natural  death  the  first  day  of  January, 
1776,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  act  itself,  here  quoted: 
"And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 


182    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

that  this  act  shall  remain  and  continue  in  full  force  and 
effect  from  the  passing  thereof  until  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, which  will  be  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-six." 

The  subjects  of  the  State  of  Vermont  were  under  no 
apprehensions  from  these  old  lifeless  acts.  Nor  do  I  con- 
ceive that  the  present  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York 
has  laid  them  under  any  obligation,  in  granting  them  a 
pardon.  It  was  a  matter  which  formerly  respected 
Governor  Tryon,  the  old  legislature  of  New  York  and  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys;  and  the  party  last  mentioned 
chose  to  settle  that  old  quarrel  with  Mr.  Tryon,  and 
resent  it  that  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York 
has  so  late  in  the  day,  undertaken  to  give  an  "uncondi- 
tional discharge  and  remission  of  all  penalties  and  forfeit- 
ures incurred,"  under  an  act  which  had  been  long  dead; 
and  which,  when  alive,  served  only  to  discover  to  the 
world  the  wickedness  and  depravity  of  that  legislative 
body  which  enacted  them.  In  the  lifetime  of  this  act,  I 
was  called  by  the  Yorkers  an  outlaw,  and  afterwards,  by 
the  British,  was  called  a  rebel;  and  I  humbly  conceive 
that  there  was  as  much  propriety  in  the  one  name  as  the 
other;  and  I  verily  believe  that  the  King's  commissioners 
would  now  be  as  willing  to  pardon  me  for  the  sin  of  rebel- 
lion, provided  I  would  afterwards  be  subject  to  Britain, 
as  the  legislature  above  mentioned,  provided  I  would  be 
subject  to  New  York;  and  I  must  confess  I  had  as  lief  be  a 
subject  to  the  one  as  the  other;  and  it  is  well  known,  I  have 
had  great  experience  in  them  both. 

Next,  I  propose  to  consider  that  part  of  the  Proclama- 
tion called  overtures,  which  are  contained  in  the  three 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  183 

first  articles.  Article  1st.  "That  all  persons,  actually 
possessing  and  improving  lands,  by  title  under  grants 
from  New  Hampshire  or  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  not 
granted  under  New  York,  shall  be  confirmed  in  their  re- 
spective possessions." 

This  article  cannot  be  considered  of  any  material  con- 
sequence, inasmuch  as  among  almost  the  whole  posses- 
sions referred  to  in  the  article,  there  are  but  very  few,  if 
any,  but  what  are  covered  with  New  York  grants. 

The  second  article  is  as  follows:  "That  all  persons 
possessing  and  improving  lands,  not  granted  by  either  of 
the  three  governments,  shall  be  confirmed  in  their  respect- 
ive possessions,  together  with  such  additional  quantity  of 
vacant  land  lying  contiguous  to  each  respective  possession 
as  may  be  necessary  to  form  the  same  into  a  convenient 
farm,  so  as  the  quantity  of  land  to  be  confirmed  to  each 
respective  possessor  shall  not  exceed  three  hundred  acres.' ' 

Neither  of  these  articles,  called  overtures,  affect  the 
controversy,  except  in  some  very  few  instances;  all  the 
possessions  spoken  of  were  first  granted  by  New  Hamp- 
shire, except  some  few  which  were  granted  by  Massa- 
chusetts Bay;  and  then,  lastly,  almost  the  whole  of 
those  possessions  were  re-granted  by  New  York.  This 
being  the  case,  what  has  been  hitherto  proposed  does  not 
reach  the  essence  of  the  controversy  as  the  New  Yorkers 
very  well  know,  besides  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  confirm  any  of  these  possessions,  which  have 
been  already  granted,  and  therefore  become  the  property 
of  the  grantees,  as  will  be  more  fully  discussed  in  its 
proper  place.  I  proceed  to  the  third  article  of  the  much 
discussed  overtures.  "That  where  lands  have  been 


184    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

heretofore  granted  by  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts 
Bay,  or  either  of  them,  and  actually  possessed  in  conse- 
quence thereof,  and  being  so  possessed,  were  afterwards 
granted  by  New  York,  such  possessions  shall  be  con- 
firmed— the  posterior  grant  under  New  York  notwith- 
standing. ' ' 

Though  it  is  absolutely  out  of  the  power  of  the  said 
legislative  authority  to  confirm  the  possessions  men- 
tioned, yet  to  discover  their  want  of  generosity  in  their 
proposal,  I  shall  in  the  first  place  consider  what  a  trifling 
proportion  of  those  possessions  could  be  confirmed  upon 
their  own  stating,  inasmuch  as  the  confirming  clause  in  the 
article  only  confirms  the  possessor,  who  was  so  possessed 
at  the  time  that  the  New  York  grant  was  made,  and  has  no 
respect  to  any  additional  possession  carried  on  after  the 
grant  took  place.  The  identical  words  are,  "And  being 
so  possessed,"  etc.  After  such  possession  was  actually 
made,  and  the  possessor  being  so  in  possession  at  the  time 
the  grant  took  place  that  such  possession  shall  be  con- 
firmed by  any  later  possession  cannot  be  included  in  the 
condition  of  "being  so  possessed;  for  a  later  possession 
was  no  possession  at  all  at  the  time  the  condition  of  pos- 
session took  place;  and  consequently  every  possession 
which  has  been  begun  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  since  the 
lands  were  granted  by  New  York,  must  be  lost  to  the 
possessor  and  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  New  York 
grantees  with  all  other  uncultivated  lands  in  the  State; 
and  all  our  purchases  of  those  lands  from  New  Hampshire 
and  Massachusetts  Bay  fall  to  the  ground,  together  with 
our  possessions,  which  have  been  increased  an  hundred 
fold." 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  185 

i 

These  overtures  have  hitherto  been  considered  only  in 
a  grammatical  and  logical  sense,  allowing  them  their  own 
construction.  I  now  proceed  to  consider  them  in  a  legal 
sense.  A  legislative  authority,  within  its  own  jurisdic- 
tion, may  confirm  a  possession  on  vacant  land,  by  making 
a  grant  of  the  same  to  the  possessor;  but  for  the  legislative 
authority  of  the  State  of  New  York  to  pretend,  as  they 
do  in  their  Proclamation,  to  vacate  any  grants  made  by 
their  own  authority,  in  favor  of  any  possession,  and  to 
confirm  such  possessions,  by  nullifying  and  defeating  their 
own  grants,  is  the  height  of  folly  and  stupidity;  for  the 
lands  being  once  granted,  the  property  passeth  to  the 
gran uee;  who  is  become  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  same; 
and  he  is  as  independent  of  that  legislative  authority 
which  granted  it  as  any  person  may  be  supposed  to  be, 
who  purchased  a  farm  of  land  of  me  by  deed  of  convey- 
ance, and  it  is  as  much  out  of  the  power  of  the  legisla- 
ture to  vacate  a  grant  made  by  them,  or  the  same  author- 
ity, in  favor  of  any  possessor,  as  it  is  out  of  my  power  to 
vacate  my  deed  of  conveyance  in  favor  of  some  second 
person.  It  is  contrary  to  common  sense  to  suppose  that 
the  property  of  the  subject  is  at  the  arbitrary  disposal 
of  the  legislature;  if  it  was,  they  might  give  a  grant  to- 
day and  vacate  it  tomorrow,  and  so  on,  ad  infinitum. 
This  would  destroy  the  very  nature  and  existence  of  per- 
sonal property,  as  the  whole  would  depend  on  the  sover- 
eign will  and  last  act  of  the  legislature;  but  the  truth  of 
the  matter  is,  the  first  conveyance  will,  and  ought  to  hold 
good ;  and  this  defeats  all  subsequent  conveyances. 

From  what  has  been  said  on  this  subject,  it  appears 
that  the  overtures  in  the  Proclamation  set  forth,  are 


186    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

either  romantic  or  calculated  to  deceive  woods  people, 
who,  in  general,  may  not  be  supposed  to  understand  law 
or  the  power  of  a  legislative  authority. 

I  have  further  to  evince-  my  arguments  on  this  subject 
by  the  concurring  opinion  of  the  Lords  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  on  complaint  made  to  them  from  those  very  per- 
sons possessing  the  land  we  are  speaking  of.  That  clause 
of  their  report  which  is  similar  to  what  I  have  argued, 
is  in  these  words:  "Such  subsequent  grants  made  by  the 
government  of  New  York,  however  unwarrantable,  can- 
not be  set  aside  by  any  authority  from  his  Majesty,  in 
case  the  grantees  shall  insist  on  their  title." 

Thus  it  appears,  in  a  trial  (of  the  same  case  we  are 
treating  of)  before  the  Board  of  Trade,  that  the  King, 
under  whose  authority  the  government  of  New  York  had 
in  an  oppressive  manner  granted  those  very  lands,  could 
not,  by  his  royal  authority,  vacate  or  set  aside  the  grants; 
yet,  the  present  legislative  authority  of  the  State  of  New 
York  proclaim  to  the  world  and  pledge  the  faith  of 
government  that  they  will  do  it.  But  enough  has  been 
said  on  the  impossibility  of  it,  as  well  as  on  the  ungener- 
ousness  of  the  proposal;  and  as  to  the  writ-rents,  the 
general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Vermont  will  determine 
their  expediency  and  probably  release  them  all. 

What  has  here  been  observed,  answers  every  part 
of  the  Proclamation  worth  notice,  as  the  five  last  articles 
had  an  entire  reference  to  the  three  first;  though  it  may 
be  worth  observing  that  the  time  of  compliance  with  those 
overtures  has  expired;  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  but  few 
of  the  subjects  of  the  State  of  Vermont  have  closed  with 
them.  The  main  inducement  I  had  in  answering  them 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  187 

was  to  draw  a  full  and  convincing  proof  from  the  same, 
that  the  shortest,  best  and  most  eligible,  I  had  almost 
said,  the  only  possible  way  of  vacating  those  New  York 
interfering  grants,  is  to  maintain  inviolable  the  supremacy 
of  the  legislative  authority  of  the  independent  State  of 
Vermont.  This,  at  one  stroke,  overturns  every  New 
York  scheme  which  may  be  calculated  for  our  ruin,  makes 
us  free  men,  confirms  our  property,  "and  puts  it  fairly  in 
our  power  to  help  ourselves"  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
great  blessings  of  a  free,  uncorrupted  and  virtuous  civil 

government. 

ETHAN  ALLEN. 
Bennington,  August  9,  1778. 

The  declaration  of  their  independence  by  the  people 
of  Vermont  gave  occasion  to  numerous  and  perplexing 
difficulties.  No  sooner  had  Vermont  organized  a  govern- 
ment than  the  inhabitants  of  sixteen  towns  bordering  on 
the  Connecticut  river,  in  New  Hampshire,  manifested  a 
disposition  to  dissolve  their  connection  with  that  State 
and  unite  with  Vermont.  In  justification  of  the  separa- 
tion it  was  contended  "that  all  the  lands  west  of  the 
Mason  Line  being  royal  grants  had  been  held  in  subjection 
to  the  government  of  New  Hampshire  by  force  of  the 
royal  commissions  which  were  vacated  by  the  assumed 
independence  of  the  American  Colonies,  and  therefore 
the  inhabitants  of  those  grants  had  reverted  to  a  state  of 
nature,  "and  were  at  liberty  to  form  whatever  govern- 
ment they  thought  proper."  In  pursuance  of  this  deter- 
mination they  persented  a  petition  to  the  legislature  of 
Vermont  on  the  12th  of  March,  1778,  praying  for  annex- 
ation. This  application  greatly  embarrassed  the  Legis- 


188    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

lature,  but  at  its  June  session  it  was  voted  that  the  union 
take  place;  thirty-seven  members  voted  in  the  affirmative 
and  twelve  in  the  negative. 

The  government  of  New  Hampshire  was  justly  in- 
censed at  these  proceedings.  William  Ware,  President 
of  the  Council  of  that  State,  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Federal  Congress  on  the  19th  of  August  asking  advice 
in  relation  to  the  subject,  and  on  the  22nd  of  August,  in 
the  name  of  the  General  Assembly,  he  wrote  to  Governor 
Chittenden  of  Vermont  claiming  the  sixteen  towns  as  a 
part  of  New  Hampshire.  On  the  reception  of  this  com- 
munication the  Governor  convened  the  Council,  and  it 
was  agreed  that  Colonel  Ethan  Allen  should  proceed  to 
Philadelphia  and  learn  in  what  light  the  proceedings  of 
Vermont  were  regarded  by  the  Congress.  On  his  return, 
Allen  made  the  following  report: 

To  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  the  Honorable  Coun- 
cil and  to  the  Representatives  of  the  freemen  of  the  State  of 
Vermont,  in  General  Assembly  met. 
GENTLEMEN  : 

The  subscriber  hereto  begs  leave  to  make  the  following 
report,  viz: 

By  the  desire  of  his  Excellency,  and  at  the  request  of 
several  of  the  members  of  the  honorable  the  council,  to  me 
made  in  September  last,  I  have  taken  a  journey  to  Phila- 
delphia, in  order  to-  gain  knowledge  how  the  political  sit- 
uation of  the  State  of  Vermont  stood,  in  the  view  of  Con- 
gress; which  I  here  exhibit. 

On  the  16th  day  of  September  last  I  was  informed  by 
members  of  Congress  that  the  delegates  from  the  State 
of  New  Hampshire  exhibited  to  Congress  a  remonstrance 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  189 

(which  they  had  previously  received  from  the  council  and 
assembly  of  said  State)  against  the  proceedings  of  the 
State  of  Vermont,  with  respect  to  their  taking  into  union 
a  number  of  towns  on  the  east  side  of  the  Connecticut 
river,  and  in  their  inviting  other  towns  to  revolt  from 
New  Hampshire;  a  copy  of  which  I  herewith  exhibit;  a 
matter  which  they  allege  was  incompatible  with  the  right 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  an  infringement  on  the  confed- 
eracy of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  therefore 
desire  the  Congress  to  take  the  matter  under  consideration, 
and  grant  some  order  thereon,  to  prevent  the  effusion  of 
blood  and  the  confusion  and  disorders  which  would 
otherwise  inevitably  ensue. 

The  delegates  from  New  York,  at  the  same  time, 
exhibited  to  Congress  sundry  papers  containing  allega- 
tions against  the  State  of  Vermont,  which  after  some 
altercations  were  admitted;  and  it  was  agreed  that  the 
same,  together  with  the  remonstrance  from  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire,  should  be  taken  under  consideration  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  18th  by  a  committee  of  the  whole 
house;  at  which  time  it  was  moved  to  be  brought  for- 
ward, but  urgent  business  occasioned  its  being  deferred 
to  the  19th,  at  which  time  I  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  and 
being  immediately  informed  of  the  business  by  some  of 
the  members  of  Congress,  I  used  my  influence  against 
its  being  hastily  determined  ex  parte;  and  particularly 
objected  to  the  complaints  from  the  State  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  New  York,  their  being  both  considered  at  the 
same  time,  alleging  that  they  were  of  a  very  different  na- 
ture. In  consequence  of  this,  together  with  my  earnest 
request  and  application,  I  obtained  assurance  that  the 


190    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

matter  should  not  be  brought  to  a  decision  before  I 
could  have  an  opportunity  to  lay  the  matter  before  this 
people,  as  I  had  previously  let  the  members  of  Congress 
know  that  the  assembly  of  this  state  was  to  set  at  this 
time  and  I  engaged  to  transmit  the  proceedings  of  this 
assembly  to  Congress  as  soon  as  they  transpired,  at  their 
request. 

The  allegations  thrown  out  by  New  York,  received  a 
most  severe  shock  on  the  perusal  of  my  late  pamphlet  in 
answer  to  his  Excellency,  Governor  Clinton's  proclama- 
tion, dated  in  February  last,  containing  certain  overtures 
to  the  inhabitants  of  this  State,  as  well  as  from  my 
treatise  on  the  nature  and  merit  of  the  New  York  claim, 
and  their  treatment  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  the  now 
State  of  Vermont.  In  fact,  the  New  York  complaints 
will  never  prove  of  sufficient  force  in  Congress  to  prevent 
the  establishment  of  this  State.  But  from  what  I  have 
heard  and  seen  of  the  disapprobation  in  Congress  of  the 
union  with  sundry  towns  east  of  the  Connecticut  river,  I 
am  sufficiently  convinced  to  offer  it  as  my  opinion  that 
except  this  State  recede  from  such  union  immediately 
the  whole  power  of  the  confederacy  of  the  United  States 
of  America  will  join  to  annihilate  the  State  of  Vermont 
and  to  vindicate  the  right  of  New  Hampshire  and  to 
maintain,  inviolate,  the  articles  of  confederation  which 
guarantee  to  each  State  its  privileges  and  immunities. 

Thus,  gentlemen,  I  have  given  you  a  short  representa- 
tion of  the  political  situation  in  this  State  as  it  now 
stands  in  the  general  Congress  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  upon  which  I  stake  my  honor. 


s 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  191 

Given  under  my  hand  at  Windsor  this  10th  day  of 
October,  A.  D.  1778. 

ETHAN    ALLEN. 

The  discussion  of  the  question  relative  to  the  union 
with  the  sixteen  towns  in  New  Hampshire  occupied  the 
consideration  of  the  Vermont  legislature  for  several 
successive  sessions,  but  on  the  12th  of  February,  1779,  it 
was  voted  that  the  union  be  dissolved.  This  determina- 
tion was  immediately  communicated  to  the  government 
of  New  Hampshire  by  Ira  Allen,  the  youngest  brother  of 
Ethan  Allen,  and  the  legislature  of  that  State,  encouraged 
by  the  concession  of  Vermont  and  by  the  dissatisfaction 
existing  in  many  of  her  frontier  towns,  resolved  to  lay 
claim  not  only  to  the  sixteen  towns  which  had  united 
with  Vermont  but  to  the  whole  territory  as  grants 
originally  made  to  that  Province.  Congress  was  applied 
to  for  a  confirmation  of  this  claim,  while  at  the  same  time 
New  York  made  a  similar  application  to  the  same  body. 
In  this  position  of  affairs,  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
interposed,  and  laid  a  claim  to  a  portion  of  the  territory, 
claiming  that  a  part  lay  within  her  jurisdiction.  Thus  by 
the  rival  claims  of  these  adjoining  States  were  the  in- 
habitants of  Vermont  subjected  to  humiliation  without 
aid  from  the  Continental  Congress  to  which  she  had  a 
right  to  look  for  protection  and  assistance  in  her  internal 
as  well  as  external  difficulties. 

On  the  7th  of  July,  1778,  Governor  Clinton  of  New 
York  wrote  to  his  adherents  in  Vermont,  recommending 
that  wherever  the  friends  of  New  York  were  sufficiently 


192    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame 

powerful,  "firm  resistance  should  be  made  to  the  drafting 
of  men,  the  raising  of  taxes,"  and  to  all  the  acts  of  the 
"ideal  State  of  Vermont;"  and  that  "associations  be 
formed  for  mutual  defense  against  this  usurpation." 

In  conformity  to  the  expressed  wishes  of  Governor 
Clinton,  a  convention  of  the  friends  of  New  York  met  at 
Brattleboro,  Vermont,  on  the  4th  of  May,  1779.  After 
perfecting  an  organization,  a  petition  to  the  Governor  of 
New  York  was  drawn  up  in  which  was  asserted  that  the 
"ideal  State  of  Vermont"  was  proceeding  to  confiscate 
their  property,  and  they  therefore  "entreated  his 
Excellency  to  take  immediate  measures  for  protecting 
the  legal  subjects  of  that  part  of  the  state,  and  for  con- 
vincing Congress  of  the  impropriety  of  delaying  a  decision 
in  a  matter  which  so  nearly  concerned  the  peace,  welfare 
and  lives  of  so  many  of  their  firm  adherents."  A  military 
association  was,  also,  formed  about  the  same  time  for  the 
purpose  of  resisting  the  authority  of  Vermont. 

In  consequence  of  these  proceedings  on  the  part  of 
New  York,  the  governor  of  Vermont  gave  orders  to  Ethan 
Allen  to  call  out  the  militia.  When  informed  of  this 
movement,  Colonel  Patterson,  who  held  a  commission  in 
the  County  of  Cumberland  under  the  New  York  authority, 
addressed  a  letter  to  Governor  Clinton  in  which  he  asked 
for  directions  relative  to  the  emergency  of  the  case 
suggesting  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  receiving  assist- 
ance from  the  military  force  of  the  County  of  Albany. 
In  answer  to  this  communication,  the  Governor  gave 
assurance  of  protection  and  recommended  that  "the 
authority  of  Vermont  should  not  be  acknowledged  ex- 
cept in  the  alternative  of  submission  or  inevitable  ruin." 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  193 

Governor  Clinton,  on  the  18th  of  May  following, 
wrote  to  the  President  of  Congress  at  Philadelphia  (John 
Hancock)  in  regard  to  the  difficulties  existing  between 
the  two  states — declaring  that  "matters  were  fast  ap- 
proaching a  very  serious  crisis,  which  nothing  but  the  im- 
mediate action  of  Congress  could  possibly  prevent;"  that 
he  daily  "expected  he  should  be  obliged  to  order  out  a 
force  for  the  defense  of  those  who  adhered  to  New  York;" 
and  "that  the  wisdom  of  Congress  would  suggest  to  them 
what  could  be  the  consequence  of  submitting  the  con- 
troversy, especially  at  this  juncture,  to  the  decision  of  the 
sword;  but  that  justice,  the  faith  of  government,  the 
peace  and  safety  of  society,  would  not  permit  them  to 
continue  any  longer  passive  spectators  of  the  violence 
committed  on  their  fellow  citizens.' '  This  letter,  together 
with  several  other  documents  relating  to  the  controversy, 
was  laid  before  Congress  on  the  29th  of  May,  1779  and  was 
referred  to  a  committee  of  the  whole.  On  the  first  day  of 
June,  Congress  resolved  that  "a  committee  be  appointed 
to  repair  to  the  inhabitants  of  a  certain  district  known  by 
the  name  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  and  inquire  into 
the  reasons  why  they  refuse  to  continue  citizens  of  the 
respective  states  which  have  claimed  jurisdiction  over 
the  said  district  and  that  they  take  every  prudent 
measure  to  promote  an  amicable  settlement  and  to  pre- 
vent divisions  and  animosities  so  prejudicial  to  the 
United  States." 

While  the  foregoing  matters  were  engaging  the  atten- 
tion of  Congress,  Colonel  Allen  marched  with  an  armed 
force  and  made  prisoners  of  Colonel  Patterson  and  others 
acting  under  the  New  York  authority.  Complaint  was 


194    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

immediately  made  to  Governor  Clinton  and  a  letter  was 
addressed  by  him  to  Congress  wherein  he  stated  what 
had  taken  place,  that  he  strongly  disapproved  of  the 
resolutions  adopted  by  Congress  and  requested  that  the 
committee  appointed  to  go  in  person  to  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants  postpone  their  visit  until  after  the  ensuing 
session  of  the  New  York  legislature. 

On  the  16th  of  June  it  was  resolved  by  Congress  that 
the  officers  captured  by  Colonel  Allen  should  be  set  at 
liberty,  and  that  the  committee  referred  to  be  directed 
to  inquire  into  the  circumstances  connected  with  the 
hasty  action  of  Colonel  Allen.  Only  two  of  the  com- 
mittee appointed  by  Congress  attended  to  the  duty 
assigned  them;  owing  to  the  excited  state  of  public 
feeling,  however,  they  failed  to  accomplish  the  object  of 
their  mission.  Upon  their  return  to  Philadelphia  they  sub- 
mitted their  report  to  Congress  without  recommenda- 
tion. 

Several  communications  were  forwarded  to  Congress 
by  the  people  of  Vermont  in  relation  to  their  rights,  but 
the  consideration  of  them  was  postponed  until  the  2nd 
Tuesday  in  September,  1780.  Ira  Allen  and  Stephen 
R.  Bradley  of  Vermont  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  proceed  to  Congress  to  see  that  the  State  received 
fair  treatment  on  the  part  of  the  delegates.  The  mat- 
ter was  taken  up  by  Congress  on  the  19th  of  September — 
the  "Agents"  of  Vermont  being  permitted  to  be  present, 
but  not  as  the  representatives  or  as  the  delegates  of  a  body 
of  people  invested  with  legislative  authority.  Efforts 
were  made  by  both  New  Hampshire  and  New  York,  to 
prove  their  respective  claims  to  the  disputed  territory;  it 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  195 

soon  became  evident  to  Allen  and  Bradley  that  Vermont 
was  not  regarded  as  a  party  to  the  controversy,  but 
that  Congress  in  attempting  to  decide  between  New 
Hampshire  and  New  York  did  not  recognize  her  exist- 
ence as  a  distinct  jurisdiction. 

These  proceedings  "were  viewed  with  alarm  and 
indignation  by  the  agents  of  Vermont/'  and  an  imme- 
diate withdrawal  of  their  attendance  was  the  conse- 
quence. On  the  22nd  of  September,  they  transmitted  a 
remonstrance  to  Congress  in  which  they  lamented  "the  ne- 
cessity which  obliges  us  to  say  that  we  can  no  longer  sit 
as  idle  spectators  without  betraying  the  trust  reposed 
in  us,  and  doing  violence  to  our  own  feelings,  to  see 
partial  modes  pursued,  plans  adopted,  ex-parte  evidence 
exhibited,  which  derives  all  authority  from  the  attesta- 
tion of  the  party — passages  in  writings  selected,  giving 
a  very  false  representation  of  facts,  to  answer  no  other 
end  but  to  prejudice  your  Honorable  body  against  the 
State  of  Vermont;  thereby  to  intrigue  and  baffle  a  brave 
and  meritorious  people  out  of  their  rights  and  liberties." 
They  further  say  that  they  "are  willing  to  agree  upon 
some  one  or  more  of  the  legislatures  of  the  disinterested 
states,  to  interpose  as  mediators  and  settle  the  dispute," 
and  conclude  by  observing  that  if  Congress  continue  the 
exercise  of  her  unjust  policy,  they  "stand  ready  to  appeal 
to  God  and  the  world,  who  must  be  accountable  for  the 
awful  consequences  that  must  ensue."  The  subject  of 
the  controversy  again  occupied  the  attention  of  Congress 
on  the  27th  of  September  when  the  further  consideration 
of  it  was  postponed. 

The  policy  of  Congress  in  postponing  the  decision  of 


196    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

the  controversy  did  not  receive  the  cordial  acquiescence 
of  Vermont.  It  showed  it  is  true  that  her  claims  to  inde- 
pendence were  partially  recognized  yet  it  had  a  direct 
tendency  to  delay  the  final  adjustment  of  those  claims. 
In  this  condition  of  affairs  the  State  of  Vermont  resolved 
upon  the  policy  of  extending  her  territory,  thereby  in- 
creasing her  power  and  placing  herself  in  a  more  imposing 
attitude.  She  was  not  unaware  that  a  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  in  the  western  part  of  New  Hampshire  were 
still  anxious  to  come  within  her  jurisdiction,  and  to  facili- 
tate the  accomplishment  of  this  object  a  convention  com- 
posed of  representatives  from  forty-three  towns  assembled 
at  Charlestown,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  16th  of  January, 
1781;  but  the  result  was  extremely  mortifying  to 
the  adherents  of  Vermont,  for  it  was  found  that  a 
majority  of  the  representatives  were  opposed  to  the  con- 
templated union.  A  committee,  however,  was  appointed  by 
the  Convention  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  Ver- 
mont on  the  subject,  and  on  the  10th  of  February,  they 
informed  the  Legislature  of  Vermont,  then  in  session  at 
Windsor,  that  "the  Convention  of  the  New  Hampshire 
towns  was  desirous  of  being  united  with  Vermont  in  one 
separate  government  upon  such  principles  as  should  be 
mutually  thought  the  most  equitable  and  beneficial  to  the 
State."  Upon  the  report  of  the  committee  to  whom  it 
had  been  referred,  the  Legislature  resolved  that  "in  order 
to  quiet  the  present  disturbances  on  the  two  sides  of  the 
Connecticut  river,  and  the  better  to  enable  the  inhabit- 
ants to  defend  their  frontier,  the  Legislature  of  this  State 
does  lay  a  jurisdictional  claim  to  all  the  lands  east  of  the 


A  Counter  Proclamation.  197 

Connecticut  river,  north  of  Massachusetts,  west  of 
Mason's  line,  and  south  of  latitude  45°;  but  they  will 
not,  for  the  time  being,  exercise  said  jurisdiction." 

A  convention  of  the  towns  in  New  Hampshire  anxious 
for  the  proposed  union  was  then  in  session  at  Cornish  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river  from  Windsor;  communi- 
cations by  boat  or  ferry  in  relation  to  the  matter  in  ques- 
tion were  repeatedly  exchanged  between  the  committees 
of  this  body  and  the  Legislature  of  Vermont.  Articles  of 
union  were  finally  agreed  upon — stipulating  that  the 
Vermont  Constitution  should  be  adopted  by  the  towns  in 
New  Hampshire,  that  application  should  be  made  to 
Congress  for  admission  into  the  union,,  that  "full  act  of 
oblivion  be  passed  for  former  offences  by  persons  who 
professed  themselves  subjects  of  the  State  of  New  York," 
and  that  the  Legislature  should  inform  all  the  towns  in 
the  State  of  Vermont  as  well  as  all  the  towns  on  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants  east  of  the  Connecticut  river,  of  the  action 
thus  taken  relative  to  the  projected  union,  and  that  "the 
votes  of  each  town  should  be  returned  to  the  Assembly  at 
their  adjourned  session,  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  April 
following;  and  on  condition  that  two-thirds  of  the  towns 
in  the  State  of  Vermont,  at  a  legal  town  meeting,  vote  for 
the  union,  and  also  two-thirds  of  the  towns  on  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants,  east  of  the  Connecticut  river,"  then 
the  union  should  take  place,  and  the  New  Hampshire 
towns  be  at  liberty  to  send  representatives  to  the  Legis- 
lature. At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  the  April  follow- 
ing, it  appeared  that  thirty-six  towns  were  in  favor  of  the 
union  and  seven  opposed  to  it.  The  union  was  therefore 


198    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

consummated;  in  accordance  with  the  consummation 
thirty-five  Representatives  from  the  towns  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Connecticut  river  took  their  seats  in  the  Ver- 
mont Legislature. 

In  consequence  of  the  measures  adopted  by  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  the  repeated  solicitations  from  several 
towns  in  that  State  bordering  on  Vermont  asking  to  be 
received  into  the  Union,  the  Legislature  on  the  14th  of 
February,  1781,  laid  jurisdictional  claim  to  all  the  lands 
west  of  her  present  territory  and  east  of  the  Hudson 
River  to  its  source,  and  east  of  the  North  line,  extending 
to  the  45th  degree  of  north  latitude — providing  that  this 
jurisdiction  should  not  be  exercised  for  the  time  being. 
On  the  llth  of  April,  however,  the  Legislature  of  Ver- 
mont appointed  a  committee  to  attend  a  convention  of 
delegates  from  the  towns  in  New  York  desiring  the  union 
and  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  effecting  it. 
This  Convention  met  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y.,  on  the  15th 
of  May — the  articles  of  union  were  agreed  to  by  both 
parties,  and  on  the  16th  of  June  following,  were  confirmed 
by  the  Legislature  of  Vermont  and  representatives  from 
these  towns  were  admitted  to  seats  in  that  body. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ADMISSION     OF     VERMONT     INTO     THE     UNION. 

The  people  of  Vermont  having  become  exasperated  by 
the  refusal  of  Congress  to  recognize  their  claims  to  inde- 
pendence, and  by  the  opposition  they  experienced  in 
seeking  admission  into  the  Union,  determined  to  pur- 
sue a  course  which  would  secure  their  safety  and  inde-. 
pendence  against  the  encroachments  of  the  British  on 
the  north  and  the  annoyance  and  interference  from  their 
fellow  countrymen  in  other  sections,  east,  west  and 
south.  The  English,  through  their  representatives  in 
America,  had  for  a  long  period  entertained  the  hope  of 
turning  the  disputes  between  Vermont  and  the  other 
states  to  their  own  advantage  by  detaching  that  section 
of  territory  from  the  American  cause,  and  making  it  a 
British  province. 

The  first  intimation  of  this  plan  was  communicated  by 
Colonel  Beverly  Robinson  to  Colonel  Ethan  Allen  in  a 
letter  dated  the  30th  of  March,  1780.  It  was  delivered 
to  Colonel  Allen  by  a  British  soldier  in  disguise  in  the 
streets  of  Arlington.  Colonel  Robinson  commenced  his 
letter  by  saying  that  he  hoped  that  his  proposals  would 
be  received  in  the  same  spirit  with  which  he  made  them 
after  which  he  proceeded  to  say  that  he  had  often  been 
informed  that  Colonel  Allen  and  most  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Vermont  were  opposed  to  the  wild  and  chimerical 

199 


200    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

scheme  of  the  Americans  in  attempting  to  separate 
from  Great  Britain  and  to  establish  an  independent 
government  of  their  own;  and  that  he  would  willingly 
assist  in  uniting  America  to  Great  Britain,  and  in 
restoring  that  happy  constitution  so  wantonly  and  unad- 
visedly destroyed.  "If  I  have  been  rightly  informed," 
proceeds  the  writer,  "and  these  should  be  your  senti- 
ments and  inclinations,  I  beg  that  you  will  communicate 
to  me,  without  reserve,  whatever  proposals  you  would 
wish  to  make  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  I  hereby 
promise  that  I  will  faithfully  lay  them  before  him  accord- 
ing to  your  directions,  and  I  natter  myself  I  can  do  it  to 
as  good  effect  as  any  person  whatever.  I  can  make  no 
proposals  to  you  until  I  know  your  sentiments;  but 
think,  upon  your  taking  an  active  part  and  persuading 
the  inhabitants  of  Vermont  in  favor  of  the  crown  of 
England,  to  act  as  the  commander-in-chief  shall  direct, 
that  you  may  obtain  a  separate  government  under  the 
king  and  constitution  of  England,  and  the  men, 
formed  into  regiments  under  such  officers  as  you  shall 
recommend,  be  on  the  same  footing  as  all  the  provincial 
corps  are.  If  you  should  think  proper  to  send  a  friend 
of  your  own  here,  with  proposals  to  the  General,  he  shall 
be  protected  and  well  treated,  and  allowed  to  return 
whenever  he  pleases."  The  contents  of  this  letter  were 
immediately  communicated  by  Colonel  Allen  to  the 
Governor  and  other  influential  persons,  who  unanimously 
agreed  that  it  would  be  impolitic  to  return  an  answer. 

On  the  2nd  of  February,  1781,  nearly  a  year  after  the 
receipt  of  the  foregoing  communication,  Colonel  Robinson 
addressed  a  second  letter  to  Colonel  Allen,  inclosing  a 


Admission  of  Vermont  into  the  Union.    201 

copy  of  the  former  one  in  which  he  says,  "The  frequent 
accounts  we  have  had,  for  three  months  past,  from  your 
part  of  the  country,  confirms  me  in  the  opinion  I  had, 
of  your  inclination  to  join  the  king's  cause,  and  assist  in 
restoring  America  to  her  former  peaceable  and  happy 
constitution.  This  induces  me  to  make  another  trial  in 
sending  this  to  you,  especially  as  I  can  write  with  more 
authority,  and  assure  you  that  you  may  obtain  the  terms 
mentioned  in  the  above  letter,  provided  you  and  the 
people  of  Vermont  take  a  decisive  and  active  part  with 
us.' '  To  this  communication  Colonel  Robinson  requested 
an  answer,  stating  also  that  some  method  might  be  pointed 
out  for  carrying  on  a  future  correspondence. 

No  answer  was  returned  to  either  of  these  letters  by 
Colonel  Allen,  but  on  the  9th  of  March,  1781,  he  en- 
closed them  in  a  communication  to  Congress.  From 
the  best  of  motives,  and  convinced  of  his  own  integrity, 
yet  all  the  while  smarting  under  the  insults  of  the  officials 
of  the  neighboring  States,  while  seeking  independence 
and  legal  separation  from  the  "Empire  State,"  he  ob- 
served in  his  note  to  Congress:  "I  am  confident  Congress 
will  not  dispute  my  sincere  attachment  to  the  cause 
of  my  country,  though  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  I  am 
fully  grounded  in  opinion  that  Vermont  has  an  indubi- 
table right  to  agree  on  terms  of  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
with  Great  Britain,  providing  the  United  States  persists 
in  rejecting  her  application  for  a  union  with  them;  for 
Vermont,  of  all  people,  would  be  the  most  miserable, 
were  she  obliged  to  defend  the  independence  of  the  United 
(claiming)  States,  and  they  at  the  same  time  at  full  liberty 
to  overturn  and  ruin  the  independence  of  Vermont.  I 


202    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

am  persuaded  that  when  Congress  considers  the  circum- 
stances of  this  State,  they  will  be  more  surprised  that  I 
have  transmitted  them  the  inclosed  letters,  than  that  I 
have  kept  them  in  custody  so  long;  for  I  am  as  resolutely 
determined  to  defend  the  independence  of  Vermont,  as 
Congress  is  that  of  the  United  States;  and  rather  than 
fail,  will  retire  with  the  hardy  Green  Mountain  Boys  into 
the  desolate  caverns  of  the  mountains  and  wage  war 
with  human  nature  at  large." 

This  negotiation  was  continued  between  the  State  of 
Vermont  and  the  representatives  of  Great  Britain  until 
the  year  1782 — having  in  its  effect  not  only  the  protection 
of  the  State  from  the  ravages  of  the  British  troops,  but 
also  to  lessen  the  difficulties  attendant  upon  her  admission 
into  the  Union.  To  the  firmness  and  undaunted  patriotism 
of  Colonel  Allen  in  this  circumstance  may  be  attributed, 
in  a  great  measure,  the  many  lasting  advantages  which 
resulted  from  it. 

During  the  negotiations  with  the  British  authorities, 
the  primary  cause  of  it  was  not  forgotten  or  neglected  by 
Allen  or  the  people  of  Vermont.  Their  efforts  were  still 
to  continue  to  advance  her  internal  interests  and  procure 
an  acknowledgment  of  her  claim  to  admission  into  the 
Union.  On  the  20th  of  August,  1781,  in  consequence  of 
Allen's  unceasing  efforts,  a  committee  appointed  by  Con- 
gress, made  a  report  to  that  body  in  relation  to  the  sub- 
ject, whereupon,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  an  indispensable  preliminary  to 
the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  people  inhabit- 
ing the  territory  called  Vermont,  and  their  admission  into 
the  federal  union,  that  they  explicitly  relinquish  all  de- 


Admission  of  Vermont  into  the  Union.    203 

mands  of  lands  or  jurisdiction  on  the  east  side  of  the  west 
bank  of  the  Connecticut  River,  and  on  the  west  side  of  a 
line  beginning  at  the  Northwest  corner  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  thence  running  twenty  miles  east  of  Hud- 
son's River,  so  far  as  the  said  river  runs  northeasterly  in 
its  general  course ;  then  by  the  west  bounds  of  the  town- 
ships granted  by  the  late  government  of  New  Hampshire, 
to  the  river  running  from  South  Bay  to  Lake  Champlain, 
thence  along  the  said  Lake  George  to  Lake  Champlain,  to 
the  latitude  of  45  degrees  north;  excepting  a  neck  of  land 
between  Missisque  Bay  and  the  waters  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain." 

Both  the  States  of  Vermont  and  New  York  were  dis- 
satisfied with  this  resolution — the  one  because  it  stipu- 
lated as  the  condition  of  her  admission  into  the  confeder- 
acy, the  dissolutions  of  her  unions  with  the  adjoining 
States,  and  the  other  because  it  recognized  the  justness  of 
a  claim  against  which  she  had  long  and  strenuously  con- 
tended. The  subject  was  taken  up  by  a  committee  of  the 
Legislature  of  Vermont  on  the  17th  of  October,  1781 — 
when  it  was  resolved  as  the  "opinion  of  this  committee 
that  the  Legislature  cannot  comply  with  the  resolution 
without  destroying  the  foundation  of  the  present  univer- 
sal harmony  and  agreement  that  subsists  in  this  State, 
and  a  violation  of  solemn  compact  entered  into  by  articles 
of  union  and  confederation." 

The  political  condition  of  Vermont  was  now  in  every 
respect  extremely  alarming;  and  "all  parties  trembled  at 
the  fearful  approach  of  civil  war."  Fortunately,  however, 
for  those  concerned,  Governor  Chittenden  received 
a  letter  from  General  Washington  dated  January  1, 


204    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

1782,  in  which  he  remarked — "It  is  not  my  business, 
nor  do  I  think  it  necessary  now  to  discuss  the  origin  of  the 
right  of  a  number  of  inhabitants  of  that  tract  of  country 
formerly  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants,  and  now  by  that  of  Vermont.  I  will  take  it 
for  granted  that  their  right  was  good  because  Congress 
by  their  resolution  of  the  7th  of  August  implied  it;  and 
by  that  of  the  20th  are  willing  fully  to  confirm  it  pro- 
vided the  new  State  is  confined  to  certain  described 
bounds.  It  appears  therefore  to  me  that  the  dispute  of 
boundary  is  the  only  one  that  exists;  and,  that  being  re- 
moved all  other  difficulties  would  be  removed  also,  and 
the  matter  terminate  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties. 
You  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  withdraw  your  jurisdiction 
to  the  confines  of  your  own  limits  and  obtain  an  acknowl- 
edgement of  independence  and  sovereignty,  under  the 
resolution  of  the  20th  of  August,  for  so  much  territory  as 
does  not  interfere  with  the  ancient  established  bounds  of 
New  Hampshire,  New  York  and  Massachusetts.  In  my 
private  opinion,  while  it  behooves  the  delegates  to  do 
ample  justice  to  a  people  sufficiently  respectable  by  their 
numbers,  and  entitled  by  other  claims  to  be  admitted 
into  the  confederation,  it  becomes  them  also  to  attend  to 
the  interests  of  their  constituents  and  see  that  under  the 
appearance  of  justice  to  one,  they  do  not  materially  injure 
the  others.  I  am  inclined  to  think  this  is  the  prevailing 
opinion  of  Congress." 

The  advice  of  Washington  had  a  soothing  effect  upon 
the  minds  of  the  people  of  Vermont.  He  was  endeared  to 
them  by  his  many  sacrifices  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  and 
by  the  examples  of  his  personal  conduct  during  those 


Admission  of  Vermont  into  the  Union.    205 

trying  times.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature, 
held  at  Bennington,  the  communication  was  laid  before 
them;  and  on  the  22nd  of  February,  it  was  resolved  to 
comply  with  the  preliminary  requirement  of  the  resolution 
of  Congress  and  relinquish  all  claims  to  the  territory 
described,  originally  attached  to  other  districts. 

The  decision  of  the  Vermont  Legislature,  as  shown 
by  the  vote  taken  on  the  18th  of  October,  was  com- 
municated to  the  Congress;  the  debate  which  followed 
was  exciting  and  caused  much  hard  feeling  between 
the  friends  of  the  contending  states.  It  was  resolved, 
among  other  things,  "that,  if  Vermont  did  not,  within  one 
month  from  the  time  this  resolution  was  communicated 
to  Governor  Chittenden,  comply  with  the  resolution  of  the 
20th  of  August,  and  relinquish  her  jurisdiction  beyond 
the  bounds  therein  named,  such  neglect  and  refusal  would 
be  regarded  as  an  indication  of  hostility  to  the  United 
States."  Previous  to  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  the 
representatives  of  Vermont  had  arrived  at  Philadelphia 
and  had  immediately  informed  Congress  that  the  re- 
quirements preliminary  to  the  recognition  of  Vermont's 
independence  had  been  complied  with;  the  "agents" 
contended  that  the  former  resolution  passed  by  Congress 
was  binding  upon  Congress,  as  well  as  upon  Vermont. 
The  subject,  however,  did  not  receive  the  attention  the 
commissioners  anticipated  or  had  hoped  for,  so  they 
returned  home  to  consider  other  means  of  enlisting 
Congress  in  their  behalf. 

The  subject  was  again  taken  up  by  Congress  on  the 
5th  of  December,  but  instead  of  fulfilling  its  promise  to 
the  "agents"  of  Vermont,  made  by  the  resolution  of  the 


206    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

20th  of  August,  1781,  the  proceedings  were  characterized 
by  abuse  against  the  people  of  that  State  for  having  ex- 
ercised authority  over  certain  individuals  professing  alle- 
giance to  New  York,  in  violation  of  the  resolutions  of 
Congress,  passed  on  the  24th  of  September,  1779,  and  on 
the  2nd  of  June,  1780.  It  was  finally  resolved,  "that  Ver- 
mont be  required  to  make  full  restitution  to  the  persons 
condemned  to  banishment  or  confiscation  of  property,  and 
that  they  be  not  molested  on  their  return  to  said  District.' ' 
It  was  further  resolved,  "that  the  United  States  will  take 
effectual  measures  to  enforce  a  compliance  with  the 
aforesaid  resolution  in  case  the  same  shall  be  disobeyed 
by  the  people  of  the  said  District." 

These  measures  completely  weakened  the  faith  of 
the  people  of  Vermont  in  the  wisdom  and  integrity  of 
Congress,  declared  Allen,  and  nearly  destroyed  their  hopes 
of  obtaining  redress  from  that  body.  However,  a  spirited 
remonstrance  to  the  foregoing  proceedings  was  for- 
warded to  Congress  by  the  Governor  of  Vermont,  at 
the  direction  of  its  Legislature,  in  which  the  whole  facts 
in  the  case  were  set  forth  in  plain  and  unmistakable 
language,  and  concluding  with  a  request  that  Vermont 
be  admitted  into  the  Union.  In  consequence  of  this  re- 
monstrance, and  other  corresponding  measures,  Congress 
did  not  judge  it  politic  to  attempt  to  carry  into  effect 
her  resolutions  of  the  5th  of  December. 

In  the  southeastern  section  of  the  State  of  Vermont, 
at  its  first  organization,  were  many  individuals  opposed 
to  its  independence  and  of  course  friendly  to  the  claims 
of  New  York.  These  persons  eagerly  embraced  every 
opportunity  to  embarrass  the  State,  and  on  several 


SIR   HENRY   CLINTON. 


Admission  of  Vermont  into  the  Union.    207 

occasions  openly  resisted  its  authority.  This  opposi- 
tion was  principally  confined  to  the  town  of  Guilf ord — at 
that  time  the  most  populous  village  in  the  State.  The 
two  factions  here  (the  friends  of  Vermont  and  those  of 
New  York)  had  each  an  organization  of  their  own  and 
not  infrequently  were  there  two  sets  of  town  officers . 
Between  these  and  their  friends,  frequent  disturbances 
occurred  which  not  infrequently  ended  in  bloodshed.  The 
enmity  of  these  parties  was  carried  to  an  alarming 
extent  during  the  years  1783  and  1784.  Social  order 
was  entirely  at  an  end,  and  even  physicians  were  not 
allowed  to  pursue  their  avocations  without  procuring 
a  permit  from  the  several  committees.  In  this  unpleasant 
state  of  affairs,  Colonel  Ethan  Allen,  then  in  command 
of  the  military  forces  of  Vermont,  was  directed  to  call  out 
the  militia  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  laws  and 
suppressing  the  factional  disturbances  among  the  people 
of  Windham  County.  In  accordance  with  these  directions, 
he  marched  from  Bennington  with  a  force  of  about  one 
hundred  Green  Mountain  Boys,  and  upon  his  arrival  at 
Guilf  ord  issued  the  following  unique  proclamation:  "I, 
Ethan  Allen,  declare  that  unless  the  people  of  Guilford 
peaceably  submit  to  the  authority  of  Vermont,  I  will 
make  the  town  as  desolate  as  were  the  cities  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah!"  The  "Yorkers"  were  fired  upon  by 
Colonel  Allen,  and  after  several  pitched  battles  the  dis- 
turbers were  all  either  taken  prisoners  or  disbanded 
without  arms.  Martial  law  was  proclaimed  by  Colonel 
Allen,  and  under  it  a  large  proportion  of  the  property 
belonging  to  the  tories  and  enemies  of  Vermont  was  sold 
for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 


208    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

Very  little  alteration  was  effected  in  the  government 
of  Vermont  for  several  years  after  the  close  of  the  war. 
After  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  constitution,  however, 
the  proceedings  of  Congress  were  viewed  by  the  people 
of  that  State  in  a  more  friendly  spirit.  Proceedings  in  that 
body  certainly  were  more  conservative  and  had  the 
effect  of  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  Vermont 
by  removing  the  aversion  to  a  federation  which  Allen  and 
others  had  opposed  on  former  occasions.  The  former 
controversy  with  the  State  of  New  York,  which  had 
already  caused  much  ill  feeling,  still  remained  unsettled, 
however.  The  authorities  of  that  State  were  now  fully 
aware  that  Vermont  would  succeed  in  maintaining  her 
independence. 

The  former  Governors  of  New  York  had,  however,  made 
grants  of  extensive  tracts  of  land  in  Vermont,  the  validity 
of  which  was  not  admitted  by  the  government  of  Vermont. 
The  authorities  of  New  York  did  not  consider  that  they 
were  under  any  particular  obligations  to  refund  the  money 
received  for  these  lands — they  being  grants  of  the  royal 
governors.  A  disposition  was  manifested,  however,  to 
effect  a  compromise,  on  just  and  amicable  terms,  and  at  a 
session  of  the  Legislature  held  at  Albany  on  the  15th  of 
July,  1789,  an  act  was  passed  appointing  a  certain  number 
of  commissioners  to  acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of  Ver- 
mont and  adjust  all  difficulties  which  exist  or  had  existed 
with  neighboring  states.  Commissioners  were  also  ap- 
pointed on  the  part  of  Vermont  to  treat  with  those  of  New 
York  and  remove  whatever  obstructions  existed  to  pre- 
vent her  admission  into  the  Union. 

On  the  7th  of  October,  1790,  the  following  resolutions 


Admission  of  Vermont  into  the  Union.    209 

were  adopted  by  the  New  York  Legislature:  "Resolved, 
That  the  commissioners  for  New  York,  by  virtue  of  the 
powers  to  them  granted  for  that  purpose,  declared  the 
consent  of  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  that  the  State  of 
Vermont  be  admitted  into  the  Union  of  the  United  States 
of  America;  and  that  immediately  upon  such  admission 
all  claims  of  jurisdiction  of  the  State  of  New  York  within 
the  State  of  Vermont  shall  cease ;  and  thenceforth  the  per- 
petual line  between  the  State  of  New  York  and  the  State 
of  Vermont,  shall  be  as  was  then  held  and  possessed  by 
Vermont;  that  is,  the  west  lines  of  the  most  western  towns 
which  had  been  granted  by  New  Hampshire,  and  the  mid- 
dle channel  of  Lake  Champlain."  In  regard  to  the  lands 
granted  under  the  Provincial  government  of  New  York, 
the  resolution  further  says:  "That the  commissioners,  by 
virtue  of  the  powers  to  them  granted,  declare  the  will  of 
the  Legislature  of  New  York,  that  if  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Vermont  should  on,  or  before,  the  first  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1792,  declare  that  on  the  first  day  of  June,  1794,  the 
State  of  Vermont  would  pay  the  State  of  New  York,  the  sum 
of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  that  immediately  from  such 
declaration,  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Vermont, 
all  rights  and  titles  to  lands  within  the  State  of  Vermont, 
under  grants  from  the  government  of  the  colony  of  New 
York,  or  from  the  State  of  New  York,  should  cease,  ex- 
cepting those  which  had  been  made  in  confirmation  of  the 
grants  of  New  Hampshire,"  This  proposal  was  readily 
agreed  to  by  Vermont  and  on  the  28th  of  October,  1790, 
an  act  was  passed  directing  the  Treasurer  of  the  State  to 
pay  the  sum  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  to  the  State  of  New 
York  at  the  proposed  time.  In  this  amicable  manner 


210    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

was  terminated  a  controversy  which  had  been  carried  on, 
with  great  animosity,  for  twenth-six  years. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Vermont  commenced  its 
sessions  at  Bennington  on  the  10th  of  January,  1791;  and 
appointed  the  Honorable  Nathaniel  Chipman  and  Lewis 
R.  Morris,  Esq.,  Commissioners  to  attend  Congress,  and 
negotiate  the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union. 

Accompanied  by  Colonel  Allen,  they  repaired  to  Phila- 
delphia and  laid  before  Washington,  then  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  and 
Legislature  and  on  the  15th  of  February,  1791,  Vermont 
was  admitted  into  the  Union,  without  debate  or  a  dissent- 
ing vote. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES     IN   THE   LIFE    OF 
COLONEL   ETHAN   ALLEN. 

The  reader  has  been  given  a  concise  view  of  all  the 
principal  events  in  which  Colonel  Allen  was  concerned, 
and  it  is  truly  gratifying  to  consider  that  in  all  the  trying 
scenes  of  his  life — in  all  the  vicissitudes  attendant  upon  a 
protracted  captivity — he  was  never  forgetful  of  the  rights 
of  his  fellowmen;  or  the  cause  of  liberty  in  which  his 
countrymen  were  engaged.  We  have  seen  him  cast  aside 
the  proffered  honors  and  their  accompanying  emolu- 
ments of  the  British  authorities  rather  than  betray  his 
allegiance  to  his  contry.  We  have  seen  him  adhering 
with  patriotic  devotion  to  the  interests  of  his  country 
even  while  her  efforts  were  directed  to  crush  the  rising 
prospects  of  his  adopted  State.  What  individual  then 
will  deny  him  the  tribute  of  gratitude  or  withhold  from 
his  memory  that  mysterious  feeling  of  veneration  which 
patriotism  exacts  from  the  friends  of  liberty? 

Colonel  Allen  was  the  author  of  several  political  and 
religious  works.  The  former  were  principally  illustrative 
of  the  measures  adopted  by  the  people  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants  in  relation  to  the  position  they  assumed  in 
the  controversy  with  the  New  York  authorities, while  the 
latter  were  probably  written  more  with  a  view  of  gratify- 
ing a  desire  to  occupy  the  attention  of  the  public  than  for 

an 


212    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

any  other  purpose.  His  religious  sentiments  as  promul- 
gated in  his  writings  were  nearly  allied  to  Deism,  yet  it  is 
quite  probable  from  the  following  anecdote  that  his  real 
opinions  were  based  upon  a  different  creed:  A  Doctor 
Elliot,  who  removed  from  Guilford,  Connecticut,  to  Ver- 
mont, was  well  acquainted  with  Colonel  Allen  and  visited 
him  at  a  time  when  his  daughter  was  very  dangerously 
sick.  He  was  conducted  into  the  library,  where  the 
Colonel  read  to  him  some  of  his  writings.  While  thus 
engaged,  a  messenger  entered  the  room  and  informed 
Colonel  Allen  that  his  daughter  was  dying  and  desired  to 
speak  to  him.  He  immediately  went  to  her  chamber,  ac- 
companied by  Doctor  Elliot  who  was  desirous  of  witness- 
ing the  interview.  The  wife  of  Colonel  Allen  was  a  pious 
woman  and  had  faithfully  instructed  her  daughter  in  the 
principles  of  Christianity.  As  soon  as  her  father  appeared 
at  her  bedside,  she  said  to  him,  "I  am  about  to  die;  shall 
I  believe  in  the  principles  you  have  taught  me  or  shall  I 
believe  in  what  my  mother  has  taught  me?"  Colonel 
Allen  became  extremely  agitated.  His  chin  quivered — 
his  whole  frame  shook;  and,  after  a  lapse  of  a  few  minutes, 
he  replied,  "Believe  what  your  mother  has  taught  you." 
It  would  appear  from  this  that  however  much  Colonel 
Allen  might  have  indulged  in  the  exercise  of  his  fancy 
upon  religious  matters  he  was  still  in  principle  attached 
to  the  beautiful  and  holy  precepts  inculcated  by  our 
Saviour. 

Colonel  Allen  was  brave  even  to  rashness.  In  support 
of  this  position  we  submit  to  the  reader  the  following 
adventure,  related  by  a  gentleman  remotely  connected 
with  him.  Soon  after  the  Proclamation  of  the  Provin- 


Incidents  and  Anecdotes.  213 

cial  Governor  of  New  York  was  received  by  the  people  of 
Vermont,  in  which  a  reward  of  five  hundred  dollars  was 
offered  for  the  apprehension  of  Allen,  much  anxiety  was 
felt  by  his  friends  for  his  safety,  on  account  of  the  many 
opportunities  offered  for  arresting  him.  Allen,  however, 
laughed  at  their  fears  and  offered  to  bet  that  he  could  go 
to  Albany,  alight  at  the  most  prominent  house  of  enter- 
tainment— the  Tavern — drink  a  bowl  of  punch  and  finally 
escape  unharmed.  The  bet  was  accepted.  All  necessary 
arrangements  being  made,  he  proceeded  to  Albany  and 
after  alighting  as  proposed,  called  for  a  bowl  of  punch  ac- 
cording to  the  terms  of  the  bet.  It  was  soon  whispered 
about  that  Ethan  Allen  was  in  the  city  and  a  large  con- 
course of  people  collected  about  the  Tavern — among  whom 
was  the  Sheriff  of  Albany  county.  Allen,  however,  re- 
mained apparently  unconcerned.  Having  finished  his 
punch,  he  went  to  the  door,  mounted  his  horse  and  after 
giving  a  hearty  "huzza  for  Vermont"  departed,  un- 
harmed before  the  astonished  and  gaping  multitude  had 
time  to  collect  their  scattered  senses. 

The  following  anecdote,  derived  from  a  source  entitled 
to  credit,  exhibits  good  evidence  of  the  singularity  as  well 
as  the  firm  resolution  of  Colonel  Allen.  He  was  a  resident 
of  Tinmouth,  Vermont,  for  a  short  time  and  was  as  cele- 
brated among  his  townsmen  for  acts  of  boldness  and  a 
perfect  contempt  of  everything  pertaining  to  cowardice 
as  he  had  been  during  his  previous  military  career.  Being 
one  day  on  a  visit  to  a  neighboring  town  (Middletown 
Springs)  he  happened  in  at  the  house  of  a  gentleman  who, 
though  not  a  regular  dentist,  was  nevertheless  in  the  habit 
of  extracting  teeth.  A  woman  came  in  suffering  from  the 


214    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

pain  of  a  decayed  tooth,  but  without  sufficient  courage  to 
permit  an  extraction.  Several  times  she  approached  the 
"fatal"  seat  assigned  for  that  purpose,  and  as  often  re- 
treated. Allen,  in  the  meantime,  a  very  uneasy  specta- 
tor, could  restrain  his  feelings  no  longer.  "Here,"  he 
said  to  the  dentist,  "take  out  one  of  my  teeth."  "  But  they 
are  all  sound,  General."  "Never  mind, — do  as  I  direct 
you."  A  tooth  was  extracted.  "Now  take  courage, 
madam,  from  the  example  I  have  given  you,"  said  Allen, 
to  the  trembling  woman.  Pride  overcame  her  fears  and 
she  was  soon  relieved  from  apprehension  and  pain. 

An  idea  of  the  honesty  and  love  of  veracity  of  Colonel 
Allen  may  be  obtained  from  the  following  anecdote:  A 
certain  individual,  to  whom  he  was  indebted,  had  com- 
menced a  suit  against  him  and  he  had  engaged  a  lawyer 
to  attend  to  it,  seeking  to  get  judgment  postponed  if 
possible.  As  an  easy  method  to  effect  this  the  lawyer 
denied  the  signature  of  the  note,  knowing  it  would  be 
almost  impossible  for  the  plaintiff  to  prove  it  genuine. 
Allen,  who  was  present,  could  not  submit  to  this  trick  of 
the  law.  Walking  forward  through  the  crowd  he  thus 
addressed  the  astonished  lawyer:  "Mr. ,  I  did  not  em- 
ploy you  to  come  here  and  lie;  I  employed  you  to  tell  the 
truth.  The  note  is  a  true  one;  the  signature  is  mine. 
All  I  ask  of  the  court  is  to  grant  me  sufficient  time  to 
meet  the  payment."  It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  the 
plaintiff  acceded  to  his  wish. 

While  Allen  was  on  his  way  to  lay  his  schemes  before 
the  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  he  visited 
Bennington  where  the  Reverend  Mr.  Dewey,  an  ancestor 
of  Admiral  George  Dewey,  preached.  In  his  prayer  Mr. 


Incidents  and  Anecdotes.  215 

Dewey,  with  much  fervor,  poured  forth  his  thanks  to  the 
Lord  for  having  given  possession  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  into 
the  hands  of  a  people  struggling  for  their  liberty  and  the 
defense  of  their  property.  Allen  was  considerably  dis- 
pleased and  as  the  preacher  continued  in  this  strain  of 
thanksgiving,  the  bluff  old  hero  cried  out,  "Parson 
Dewey!"  The  reverend  gentleman  gave  no  heed  to  the 
interruption.  Allen  exclaimed  still  louder,  "Parson 
Dewey!"  But  as  the  minister  pursued  his  prayer,  Allen 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  roared  out  in  a  voice  of  thunder, 
"Parson  Dewey."  The  clergyman  opened  his  eyes  and 
gazed  with  astonishment  at  Allen.  The  latter  exclaimed 
with  great  energy,  "Parson  Dewey,  please  make  mention 
of  my  being  there." 

Burgoyne's  defeat  gave  Ethan  Allen  a  welcome  oppor- 
tunity to  return  the  ridicule  with  which  the  (British  officers 
had  been  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  Continental  troops, 
and  he  was  not  the  man  to  keep  silent  against  biting  sar- 
casms hurled  against  his  countrymen.  Like  Paul  Jones, 
he  was  not  the  man  to  speak  deprecatingly  of  his  own 
merits  either.  He  seldom  lost  an  opportunity  of  placing 
himself  in  the  most  favorable  position  before  his  superiors. 
On  one  occasion,  during  his  captivity,  while  boasting  of 
the  impossibility  of  conquering  the  Americans,  he  boast- 
ingly  spoke  of  himself  and  his  brothers,  all  of  whom  were 
in  the  Continental  army,  as  patriots  of  uncompromising 
valor,  saying  there  was  never  a  woman  who  had  seven 
sons  that  could  equal  those  of  his  mother.  A  British 
officer  tartly  insisted  that  Allen  ought  to  except  Mary 
Magdalen,  who  also  was  delivered  of  seven  devils. 

A  man  named  John  Redding  had  been  convicted  of 


216    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

supplying  the  British  with  provisions  and  had  been 
sentenced  by  a  jury  of  six  to  be  hung  on  the  following 
Friday.  A  lawyer  interposed  for  a  new  trial,  as  twelve 
and  not  six  must  constitute  a  legal  jury.  The  public 
was  disappointed  at  the  reprieve.  Allen  addressed  them 
with  an  oath,  advising  patience,  and  to  wait  for  the  day 
suggested  by  the  lawyer,  promising,  "You  shall  see 
somebody  hung  at  all  events,  for  if  Redding  is  not  then 
hung,  I  will  be  hung  myself."  Redding  was  later  con- 
victed and  hanged  within  the  month. 

An  anecdote  of  a  different  character  is  told  of  Allen's 
sojourn  in  New  York.  Rivington,  the  King's  printer,  a 
forcible  and  venomous  writer,  had  incurred  Allen's 
enmity  by  his  caustic  allusions  to  him,  and  the  hero  of 
Ticonderoga  swore  he  would  whip  Rivington  the  very 
first  opportunity  he  had.  How  the  printer  escaped  the 
threatened  chastisement  is  narrated  in  his  own  words: 
I  was  sitting  (says  Rivington)  after  a  good  dinner,  alone, 
with  my  bottle  of  Madeira  before  me  when  I  heard  an 
unusual  noise  in  the  street  and  a  huzza  from  the  boys.  I 
was  in  the  second  story  and  stepping  to  the  window, 
saw  a  tall  figure  in  tarnished  regimentals,  with  a  large 
cocked  hat  and  an  enormously  long  sword,  followed  by  a 
crowd  of  boys  who  occasionally  cheered  him  with  huzzas 
of  which  he  seemed  insensible.  He  came  up  to  my  door 
and  stopped.  I  could  see  no  more.  My  heart  told  me 
it  was  Ethan  Allen.  I  shut  my  window  and  retired  behind 
my  table  and  my  bottle.  I  was  certain  the  hour  of  reck- 
oning had  come.  There  was  no  retreat.  Mr.  Staples, 
my  clerk,  came  in  paler  than  ever  and,  clasping  his  hands, 
said,  "Master,  he  has  come!"  "I  know  it."  He  en- 


Incidents  and  Anecdotes.  21 Y 

tered  the  store  and  asked  whether  James  Rivington 
lived  there.  I  answered,  "Yes,  sir."  "Is  he  at  home?" 
"I  will  go  and  see,  sir,"  I  said;  "and  now,  master,  what  is 
to  be  done?  There  he  is  in  the  store,  and  the  boys  peep- 
ing at  him  from  the  street."  I  had  made  up  my  mind. 
I  looked  at  the  Madeira,  possibly  took  a  glass.  "Show 
him  up,  said  I ;  and  if  such  Madeira  cannot  mollify  him, 
he  must  be  harder  than  adamant.  There  was  a  fearful 
moment  of  suspense.  I  heard  him  on  the  stairs,  his  long 
sword  clanking  at  every  step.  In  he  stalked.  "  Is  your 
name  James  Rivington?"  "It  is,  sir,  said  I,  and  no 
man  could  be  more  happy  than  I  am  to  see  Colonel 
Ethan  Allen,  the  hero  of  Ticonderoga.  "Sir,  I  have 
come —  "Not  another  word,  my  dear  Colonel,  until 
you  have  taken  a  seat  and  a  glass  of  old  Madeira."  "  But, 
sir,  I  do  not  think  it  proper — "  "Not  another  word, 
Colonel.  Taste  this  wine.  I  have  had  it  in  glass  for  ten 
years.  Old  wine,  you  know,  unless  it  is  originally  sound, 
never  improves  by  age."  He  took  the  glass,  swallowed 
the  wine  smacked  his  lips,  and  shook  his  head  approvingly. 
"Sir  I  come —  "Not  another  word  until  you  have 
taken  another  glass,  and  then,  my  dear  Colonel,  we  will 
talk  of  old  affairs,  and  I  have  some  queer  events  to  de- 
tail." In  short,  we  finished  two  bottles  of  Madeira,  and 
parted  as  good  friends  as  if  we  had  never  had  cause  to 
be  otherwise. 

Levi,  one  of  Ethan  Allen's  brothers,  joined  the  tories 
and  fled  with  them  to  Canada.  This  greatly  incensed 
Ethan  and  he  applied  to  the  proper  authorities  for  the 
confiscation  of  his  brother's  property  for  the  benefit  of  the 
State.  Levi  heard  of  this  and  challenged  his  brother 


218    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

to  fight  a  duel.  This  Ethan  refused  to  do  on  the  ground 
that  it  would  be  disgraceful  to  fight  a  tory!"  Levi, 
however,  abandoned  the  royal  cause  and  became  a  staunch 
patriot.  The  following  is  a  literal  copy  of  Ethan  Allen's 
complaint,  concerning  his  brother: 

Bennington,  County,  ss. — Arlington,  9th  of  January 
1779. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Court  of  Confiscation,  come, 
Colonel  Ethan  Allen  in  the  name  of  the  freemen  of  this 
State,  and  complaint  makes  that  Levi  Allen,  late  of 
Salisbury,  in  Connecticut,  is  of  tory  principles,  and  holds 
in  fee  sundry  tracts  and  parcels  of  land  in  this  State. 
The  said  Levi  has  been  detected  in  trying  to  supply  the 
enemy  on  Long  Island,  and  in  attempting  to  circulate 
counterfeit  currency,  and  is  guilty  of  holding  treasonable 
correspondence  with  the  enemy,  under  cover  of  doing 
favors  to  me  when  a  prisoner  at  New  York  and  Long 
Island;  and  in  talking  and  in  using  influence  in  favor  of 
the  enemy,  associating  with  inimical  persons  to  this 
country,  and  with  them  monopolizing  the  necessaries  of 
life,  in  endeavoring  to  lessen  the  credit  of  the  conti- 
nental currency,  and  in  particular,  hath  exerted  himself 
in  the  most  falacious  manner,  to  injure  the  property  and 
character  of  some  of  the  most  zealous  friends  to  the  inde- 
pendency of  the  United  States,  and  of  this  State  like- 
wise; all  which  inimical  conduct  is  against  the  peace  and 
dignity  of  the  freemen  of  this  State.  I  therefore  prey  the 
Honorable  Court  to  take  the  matter  under  their  consid- 
eration, and  make  confiscation  of  the  estate  of  said 
Levi  Allen,  before  mentioned,  according  'to  the  laws 


Incidents  and  Anecdotes.  219 

and    customs    of    this   State    in   such  case  made  and 
provided. 

ETHAN  ALLEN. 

Colonel  Allen  talked  and  wrote  much  on  the  subject 
of  religion,  and  expressed  his  skeptical  views  on  all  con- 
venient occasions.  At  one  time,  while  he  was  at  West- 
minster, Vermont,  Judge  Sessions  and  Stephen  R. 
Bradley,  who  were  zealous  Christians,  were  discussing  the 
affairs  of  the  Church.  Allen,  who  entered  the  room  at 
the  time,  interrupted  them  by  an  argument  against  the 
divine  origin  of  the  Bible.  Judge  Sessions,  not  liking  to 
hear  his  reasoning,  said,  "Mr.  Bradley,  I  think  we  had 
better  retire  and  not  hear  this  man  talk."  Allen  ex- 
claimed, "Deacon  Sessions,  you  belong  to  the  church 
militant.  I  belong  to  the  church  military;  and  without 
that,"  he  continued  with  an  oath,  "you  can  never  belong 
to  the  church  triumphant." 

Colonel  Allen's  kindness  of  heart  was  proverbial,  and 
he  was  always  ready  to  afford  relief  to  the  suffering.  At 
one  time,  two  little  girls,  daughters  of  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  Vermont,  wandered  into  the  woods.  The  distressed 
parents  with  a  few  neighbors,  commenced  a  search, 
which  was  continued  through  the  night  without  success. 
The  next  day  a  large  number  of  persons  from  the  neigh- 
boring towns  joined  them  and  the  search  was  continued 
till  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day,  when  it  was  relin- 
quished, and  the  people  who  had  been  out  were  about  to 
return  to  their  homes.  Among  them,  however,  was  one 
who  thought  the  search  should  not  be  abandoned;  this 
was  Ethan  Allen.  He  mounted  a  stump,  and  soon  all  eyes 


220    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

were  fixed  upon  him.  In  his  laconic  manner,  he  pointed 
to  the  father  and  mother  of  the  lost  children,  now  almost 
terrified  with  grief  and  despair — and  bade  each  individual 
present,  and  especially  those  who  were  parents,  make 
the  case  of  these  parents  his  own,  and  then  say  whether 
they  could  go  contentedly  home  without  one  further 
effort  to  save  those  little  ones  who  were  probably  now 
alive  but  perishing  with  hunger  and  spending  their  last 
strength  crying  for  father  and  mother  to  give  them  some- 
thing to  eat.  As  he  spoke,  his  giant  frame  was  agitated ; 
the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks,  and  in  the  assembly  of 
several  hundred  men,  but  few  eyes  were  dry.  "I'll  go! 
I'll  go!"  was  at  length  heard  from  every  part  of  the  crowd. 
They  betook  themselves  to  the  woods,  and  before  night 
the  lost  children  were  restored  in  safety  to  the  arms  of  the 
distracted  parents. 

Colonel  Allen,  who  at  times  had  resided  at  Benning- 
ton,  Arlington  and  Tinmouth,  at  last  took  up  his  resi- 
dence on  the  Winooski  river  not  far  from  Bennington. 
His  first  wife  had  never  removed  from  Connecticut,  but 
died  there  during  the  war.  His  courtship  with  his 
second  wife  was  characteristic.  During  a  session  of  the 
court  at  Westminster,  Allen  appeared  with  a  magnificent 
pair  of  horses  and  a  colored  driver.  Chief  Justice  Robin- 
son and  Stephen  R.  Bradley,  an  eminent  lawyer,  were 
there,  and  as  their  breakfast  was  on  the  table  they  asked 
Colonel  Allen  to  join  them.  He  replied  that  he  had 
breakfasted,  and  while  they  were  at  the  table  he  would 
go  in  and  see  Mrs.  Buchanan,  a  handsome  widow  who  was 
visiting  there  at  the  time.  He  entered  the  sitting  room, 
and  at  once  said  to  Mrs.  Buchanan,  "Well,  Fanny,  if  we 


Incidents  and  Anecdotes.  221 

are  to  be  married,  let  us  be  about  it."  "Very  well," 
she  promptly  replied,  "give  me  time  to  fix  up."  In  a 
few  minutes  she  was  ready,  and  Judge  Robinson  was  at 
once  called  upon  by  them  to  perform  the  customary 
ceremony.  Said  Allen,  "Judge,  Mrs.  Buchanan  and  I 
have  concluded  to  be  married.  I  don't  care  much  about 
the  ceremony,  and  as  near  as  I  can  find  out,  Fanny  cares 
as  little  for  it  as  I  do.  But  as  a  decent  respect  for  the 
customs  of  society  require  it  of  us,  we  are  willing  to  have 
the  ceremony  performed."  The  gentlemen  present  were 
much  surprised,  and  Judge  Robinson  replied,  "General 
Allen,  this  in  an  important  matter.  Have  you  thought 
seriously  of  it?"  "Yes,  yes,"  exclaimed  Allen,  looking 
at  Mrs.  Buchanan,  "but  it  don't  require  much  thought." 
Judge  Robinson  then  rose  from  his  seat  and  said,  "Join 
your  hands  together.  Ethan  Allen,  you  take  this  woman 
to  be  your  lawful  and  wedded  wife;  you  promise  to  love 
and  protect  her  according  to  the  law  of  God  and — 
"Stop,  stop,  Judge.  The  law  of  God,"  said  Allen  look- 
ing forth  upon  the  fields,  "all  nature  is  full  of  it.  Yes, 
go  on.  My  team  is  at  the  door."  As  soon  as  the  cere- 
mony was  ended,  General  .  Allen  and  his  bride  entered 
his  carriage  and  drove  off. 

On  one  occasion  Allen's  temerity  came  very  near  re- 
sulting in  his  capture,  or  perhaps  death.  While  travel- 
ing along  the  shores  of  Lake  Champlain  opposite  Crown 
Point,  with  but  a  single  companion,  he  stopped  at  the 
house  of  a  Mr.  Richards.  It  happened  that  at  the  same 
time  a  party  of  six  or  eight  soldiers  from  the  neighbor- 
ing fortress,  Ticonderoga,  fully  armed,  were  at  the  house, 
with  the  intention  of  remaining  during  the  night.  Know- 


222    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

ing  Allen,  they  determined  to  arrest  him,  and  thus  obtain 
the  liberal  reward  offered  by  the  New  York  authorities 
for  his  apprehension.  Mrs.  Richards,  a  staunch  patriot, 
overheard  enough  of  their  conversation  to  warrant  her 
in  warning  Allen  of  their  designs,  which  she  did  while 
conducting  him  and  his  companion  to  their  room.  Upon 
reaching  their  room  they  quietly  raised  their  window, 
and  dropping  to  the  ground  they  hurriedly  made  their 
escape. 

When  the  soldiers  discovered  that  Allen  and  his  com- 
panion had  fled,  they  threatened  Mrs.  Richards  for 
aiding  the  "rebels"  in  escaping;  but  she  apologized  on 
the  ground  that  if  she  had  failed  to  do  so,  the  settlers 
would  have  torn  down  her  house  and  driven  herself  and 
family  out  of  the  country. 

Notwithstanding  the  frequency  of  proclamations  and 
the  offering  of  rewards  for  the  capture  of  the  leaders,  both 
colonist  and  tory,  it  is  not  known  whether  any  one  was 
ever  apprehended  in  consequence  of  their  being  issued, 
which  is  a  proof  that  the  people  residing  near  the  bound- 
ary lines  of  New  York,  Vermont  and  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants  were  more  favorable  to  the  settlers  than 
were  the  appointees  from  the  Crown,  otherwise  the  allure- 
ments of  the  rewards  would  have  been  an  incentive  for 
seizing  individual  offenders,  particularly  as  the  people 
were  required  by  law  to  assist  the  sheriffs  in  the  execution 
of  their  office.  Allen  never  denied  that  the  conduct  of 
himself  and  his  mountaineer  neighbors  was  properly 
called  riotous,  but  he  contended  that  they  were 
driven  to  this  extremity  by  the  oppression  of  their  tory 
neighbors;  that  no  other  means  was  left  by  which  they 


Incidents  and  Anecdotes.  223 

could  defend  their  property,  and  that,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, they  were  perfectly  justified  in  resorting  to 
this  means.  It  has  not  been  shown  that  the  settlers  en- 
croached upon  the  possessions  of  other  people,  but  re- 
mained on  their  own  lands,  and  if  riots  existed,  they  were 
caused  by  those  who  sought  to  deprive  them  of  their 
lands  by  writs  of  ejectment  issued  by  the  New  York 
authorities — appointees  of  the  Crown. 

Viewing  things  in  this  light,  Allen  thought  it  hard  that 
he  should  be  called  a  rioter,  afterwards  a  criminal,  and 
lastly  denounced  as  a  felon,  with  a  price  set  upon  his 
liberty  and  life.  But  being  brave,  even  to  rashness, 
he  was  in  no  degree  intimidated  by  the  rewards  offered 
for  his  apprehension,  as  has  been  shown  in  his  visit  to 
Albany,  the  very  seat  of  royal  and  tory  power  and 
influence  in  America.  As  often  as  the  New  York  author- 
ities issued  a  proclamation  or  offered  a  reward  for  any 
of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys,  Allen  and  his  associates 
issued  one  to  counteract  its  effect,  which  tended  to  in- 
crease the  hilarity  of  the  occasion.  Among  the  most 
conspicuous  characters  at  Albany  who  either  held  appoint- 
ments from  the  Crown  or  served  in  some  capacity  under 
the  royal  governors  none  were  held  in  greater  contempt 
by  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants  than 
James  Duane  and  John  Kempe,  and  Allen  nearly 
always  included  the  names  of  these  two  men  when  offer- 
ing rewards;  in  fact  their  names  were  "posted"  about 
every  ninety  days.  Allen  did  not  wish  to  be  outdone  by 
the  New  York  authorities  even  in  the  matter  of  offering 
rewards  for  the  apprehension  of  persons  particularly 
offensive;  doubtless  the  act  of  issuing  rewards  was  never 


224    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

taken  seriously  by  either  party,  particularly  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys,  who  were  without  sufficient  funds  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  life,  not  to  mention  the  pay- 
ing of  rewards  for  the  apprehension  of  their  enemies. 
It  is  altogether  probable,  however,  that  the  only  com- 
pensation the  average  Green  Mountain  patriot  would  have 
accepted,  should  they  have  chanced  upon  either  Duane  or 
Kempe,  would  have  been  the  thanks  of  their  acknowledged 
leaders,  Ethan  Allen,  Remember  Baker,  Robert  Cockran, 
and  others,  and  a  further  opportunity  to  render  substantial 
aid  in  behalf  of  the  cause  for  which  they  had  sacrificed 
everything  they  had  acquired  through  years  of  patient 
toil  in  the  settlement  of  a  new  country. 

It  was  doubtless  in  a  spirit  of  mockery — a  satire  upon 
royal  and  tory  presumption — that,  in  exercising  the  pre- 
rogatives of  sovereignty,  Allen  and  his  associates  issued 
the  following  reward  in  retaliation  presumably  for  the  one 
offered  by  the  General  Assembly  of  New  York,  increas- 
ing the  bounty  already  "posted"  for  Allen  to  £150  and  a 
proportionate  increase  for  five  others. 

ADVERTISEMENT  £25    REWARD. 

Whereas  James  Duane  and  John  Kempe  of  New  York, 
have  by  their  menaces  and  threats  greatly  disturbed  the 
public  Peace  and  Repose  of  the  honest  Peasants  of 
Bennington  and  the  settlements  to  the  northward,  which 
peasants  are  now  and  ever  have  been  in  the  Peace  of 
God  and  the  king,  and  are  patriotic  and  liege  subjects  of 
George  the  Third — any  person  that  will  apprehend  those 
common  disturbers,  viz.,  James  Duane  and  John  Kempe, 


Incidents  and  Anecdotes.  225 

and  will  bring  them  to  Landlord  Fays  at  Bennington, 
shall  have  £15  reward  for  James  Duane  and  £10  or 
John  Kempe  paid  by 

ETHAN  ALLEN, 
REMEMBER    BAKER, 
ROBERT  COCKRAN. 
Dated  at  Poultney, 
Feb.  5th,  1772. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

CHARACTER — RELIGIOUS   VIEWS — DEATH. 

When  peace  was  again  restored,  and  the  colonies,  now 
united,  took  their  places  among  the  recognized  nations  of 
the  world,  there  was  nothing  left  for  Ethan  Allen  but  to 
retire  to  the  green  hills  of  his  beloved  Vermont  and  leave 
the  settlement  of  international  and  state  questions  to  those 
who  championed  the  cause  of  freedom  by  voice  and  pen — 
Patrick  Henry,  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Adams,  John 
Jay,  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Hancock  and  others. 

Allen  was  a  practical  farmer,  accustomed  to  labor 
with  his  own  hands,  and  submit  to  the  privations  and 
hardships  which  necessarily  attend  the  condition  of 
pioneers  in  a  new  country.  He  moved  to  Burlington  in 
the  spring  of  1787,  with  the  view  of  devoting  himself  to 
farming,  having  selected  for  his  residence  the  beautiful 
tract  of  intervale  north  of  the  village,  now  generally 
known  as  the  Van  Ness  farm.  He  removed  his  family 
there  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  and  that  was  their 
home  till  the  time  of  his  death,  which  took  place  less  than 
two  years  later. 

In  this  retirement  he  published  a  work  on  a  series  of 
topics  very  different  from  those  which  had  heretofore  em- 
ployed his  pen.  The  book  is  entitled,  "Reason  the  Only 
Oracle  of  Man,  or  a  Compendious  System  of  Natural  Re- 
ligion." It  was  published  at  Bennington  in  the  year  1784. 

226 


Character — Religious  Views — Death.    227 

The  preface  is  dated  July  2,  1782.  In  this  preface  Allen 
states  that  he  had  been  from  his  youth  addicted  to  con- 
templation and  had  from  time  to  time  committed  his 
thoughts  to  paper.  This  book  purports  to  be  the  result 
of  his  labors,  revised,  arranged  and  prepared  with  much 
labor  for  the  press.  In  its  literary  execution  it  is  much 
superior  to  any  of  his  other  writings  and  was  ^evidently 
prepared  with  care  and  reflection.  It  is  nevertheless,  a 
crude  and  worthless  production,  in  which  truth  and  error, 
reason  and  sophistry,  knowledge  and  ignorance,  ingenuity 
and  presumption  are  mingled  together  in  a  chaos,  which 
the  author  denominated  a  "system."  Some  of  the  chap- 
ters on  natural  religion,  the  being  and  attributes  of  God, 
and  the  principles  and  obligations  of  morality,  should, 
perhaps,  be  "excepted  from  this  sweeping  assertion,  for, 
although  they  contain  little  that  is  new,  yet  they  are 
written  in  a  labored  tone,  and  express  sentiments  which 
may  screen  them  from  so  heavy  a  censure. 

Founding  religion  on  the  attributes  of  the  Deity  and 
the  nature  of  things,  as  interpreted  by  reason,  Allen  took 
it  for  granted  that  there  was  no  necessity  for  a  revelation 
and  hence  inferred  that  the  Christian  Revelation  and 
miracles  were  false.  He  also  argued  against  Old  Testa- 
ment teachings  upon  the  same  principles.  Historical 
facts  and  internal  evidence,  the  only  basis  of  correct  rea- 
soning on  this  subject,  are  passed  over  in  silence.  There 
is  no  proof  or  reason  to  believe  that  the  author  ever  ex- 
amined this  part  of  the  manuscript  after  its  first  draft. 
It  is  thought,  however,  that  he  mistook  some  of  the  errors 
of  Christian  sects  for  the  true  doctrines  of  revealed  re- 
ligion, and  that  his  views,  as  to  the  reality  and  nature 


228    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

of  the  system  itself,  were  perverted  by  this  misappre- 
hension. 

If  we  may  judge  also  from  various  passages  in  this 
book,  some  of  his  biographers  have  not  done  him  strict 
justice  in  regard  to  his  religious  opinions.  Some  have 
affirmed  that  he  believed  in  the  metempsychosis  of  the 
ancients,  or  the  transmigration  of  souls  after  death  into 
beasts,  or  fishes,  and  that  he  often  informed  his  friends 
that  he  himself  expected  to  live  again  in  the  form  of  a 
large  white  horse.  If  Allen  was  absurd  and  frivolous 
enough  to  say  such  a  thing  in  conversation,  he  has  cer- 
tainly expressed  very  different  sentiments  in  his  writings. 
No  person  could  declare  more  explicitly  his  belief  in  a 
future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments  and  a  just  retri- 
bution than  he  has  done  in  the  following  passages  con- 
tained in  this  book  on  Natural  Religion: 

"We  should  so  far  divest  ourselves  of  the  incum- 
brances  of  this  world,  which  are  too  apt  to  engross  our 
attention,  as  to  acquire  a  consistent  system  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  our  duty  and  make  it  our  constant  endeavor  in 
life  to  act  conformably  to  it.  The  knowledge  of  the 
being,  perfections,  creation  and  providence  of  God,  and 
the  immortality  of  our  souls,  is  the  foundation  of  our 
religion."  Again,  "As  true  as  mankind  now  exists  and  is 
endowed  with  reason  and  understanding,  and  has  the 
power  of  agency  and  proficiency  in  morals  good  and  evil, 
so  true  it  is  that  he  must  ultimately  be  rewarded  or  pun- 
ished according  to  his  respective  merits  or  demerits;  and 
it  is  as  true  as  this  world  exists,  and  rational  and  account- 
able beings  inhabit  it,  that  the  distribution  of  justice 
therein  is  partial,  unequal  and  uncertain;  and  it  is  con- 


Character — Religious  Views — Death.      229 

sequently  as  true  as  that  there  is  a  God,  that  there  must 
be  a  future  state  of  existence,  in  which  the  disorder,  in- 
justice, oppression  and  viciousness,  which  are  acted  and 
transacted  by  mankind  in  this  life,  shall  be  righteously 
adjusted,  and  the  delinquents  suitably  punished."  To 
what  extent  these  doctrines  bear  out  the  charge  of  a  be- 
lief in  the  transmigration  of  souls,  let  the  reader  himself 
judge. 

It  has  been  reported  that  in  his  youth  Allen  was  fitted 
for  college,  but  was  denied  admission  on  account  of  his 
well-known  atheistic  opinions.  But,  says  the  Rev.  Zadock 
Thompson,  I  never  found  any  substantial  corrobora- 
tions  of  this  statement,  and  since  it  is  totally  inconsistent 
with  what  Allen  has  said  of  himself,  I  believe  it  to  be 
wholly  unfounded.  In  his  Oracle  of  Reason,  page  426, 
he  says :  "  I  do  not  understand  Latin  or  Greek  or  Hebrew." 
And  in  his  introduction  to  that  work  he  further  says  that 
his  knowledge  of  grammar  and  language  had  been 
acquired  by  his  practice  of  scribbling.  But  notwith- 
standing these  statements,  I  think  it  not  at  all  improb- 
able that  he  at  one  time  contemplated  getting  a  college 
education,  and  that  he  dabbled  a  little  in  Latin.  I  was 
told  by  the  late  Mr.  Jehial  Johns,  who  died  in  Huntington 
in  1840,  aged  85  years,  and  who  knew  Ethan  Allen  in 
Connecticut,  that  he  was  certain  that  Allen  spent  some 
time  studying  with  the  Reverend  Lee  of  Salisbury,  with 
a  view  of  fitting  himself  for  college;  and  the  occasional 
occurrences  of  Latin  phrases  in  his  writings  strongly 
corroborate  this  opinion.  Mr.  Johns  also  informed  me 
that  Allen  was  about  that  time  on  very  intimate  terms 
with  that  noted  infidel  and  historical  writer,  Dr.  Thomas 


230    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

Young,  and  that  from  him  he  derived  his  own  infidel 
notions,  and  the  principal  arguments  by  which  he  de- 
fended them. 

Of  the  history  of  Allen's  greatest  work,  his  book  on 
theology,  even  his  biographers  seem  to  be  entirely 
ignorant.  From  information  derived  from  various 
sources,  principally  from  the  late  Mr.  Johns,  I  am  enabled 
to  make  the  following  statements,  which  I  am  inclined  to 
regard  as  substantially  true: 

At  the  time  of  Ethan  Allen's  youth  there  were  in 
Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  and  in  Dutchess  County, 
New  York,  which  lies  adjacent,  a  number  of  professed 
infidels,  among  whom  a  Dr.  Thomas  Young  was  prom- 
inent, both  on  account  of  his  education  and  abilities,  and 
also  on  account  of  his  daring  profaneness,  amounting 
sometimes  to  blasphemy,  for  which  he  was  once  prose- 
cuted, convicted  and  punished.  Young  was  living  on 
what  was  called  the  Oblong  in  Dutchess  County,  and  very 
near  the  Connecticut  state  line.  At  the  time  Jonathan 
Edwards  proposed  his  famous  theological  questions, 
Young  engaged  in  their  discussion,  and  boldly  espoused 
the  infidel  side,  and  argued  in  opposition  to  the  necessity 
of  a  Divine  Revelation.  Ethan  Allen  had  previously 
to  this  time  been  on  very  intimate  terms  with  Young; 
he  had  spent  much  time  at  his  house,  and  fully  imbibed 
all  of  his  infidel  notions.  Allen,  therefore,  entered  at 
once  upon  this  discussion,  supporting  the  same  views 
with  Young,  and  spending  a  large  share  of  his  time  in 
writing.  ^Mrs.  Wadhams,  in  whose  family  he  resided, 
said  some  years  later  that  Ethan  Allen  spent  one  sum- 
mer at  her  house  and  was  employed  nearly  the  whole 


Character — Religious  Views — Death.     231 

time  in  writing.  She  did  not  know  what  he  was  writing, 
but  she  recollected  that  once  when  she  called  him 
to  dinner  he  said  that  he  was  very  sorry  she  called  so 
soon,  for  "he  had  got  clear  up  into  the  upper  regions." 
It  seemed  to  be  generally  understood  at  this  time  that  he 
and  Young  were  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  a  work  in 
support  of  infidel  principles,  and  that  there  was  an  agree- 
ment between  them  that  the  one  who  outlived  the  other 
should  publish  it.  When  Ethan  Allen  went  to  Vermont 
his  manuscripts  were  left  in  possession  of  Young.  The 
latter  engaged,  soon  after  this,  very  warmly  in  the  cause 
of  the  American  colonies,  and  became  distinguished  as 
a  political  writer.  He  spent  some  time  in  Albany  and 
after  that  a  while  in  Boston,  and  at  the  time  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Revolution  removed  with  his  family 
to  Philadelphia.  In  April,  1777,  he  wrote  his  celebrated 
letter  to  the  people  of  Vermont,  advising  them  to  form 
forthwith  a  state  government;  for  God,  said  he,  had 
fairly  put  it  in  their  power  to  help  themselves.  He  died 
in  Philadelphia  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  and  his 
family  returned  to  their  residence  in  Dutchess  County, 
New  York.  On  Allen's  return  to  Vermont,  after  his 
exile  in  the  spring  of  1778,  he  called  upon  Young's  fam- 
ily, procured  his  own  and  Young's  manuscripts  and  took 
them  with  him  to  Vermont.  These,  as  he  had  leisure, 
he  re-wrote,  altered  and  arranged  in  the  form  of  a 
book  with  this  title,  "Reason  the  Only  Oracle  of  Man, 
or  a  Compendious  System  of  Natural  Religion."  It 
was  published  by  Anthony  Haswell  in  1784.  But 
a  few  copies  of  this  work  were  bound  at  first,  and 
while  the  bulk  of  the  edition  was  stored  in  Mr.  Has- 


232    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

well's  office  in  sheets,  the  office  and  its  contents  were 
consumed  by  fire,  and  Mr.  Has  well,  to  the  hour  of  his 
death,  regarded  this  calamity  as  a  judgment  upon  him 
for  being  concerned  in  publishing  an  infidel  work,  and 
as  an  interposition  of  Divine  Providence  to  prevent 
its  circulation.  In  consequence  of  this  destruction  of 
the  sheets,  copies  of  the  original  edition  are  exceedingly 
rare. 

Allen  took  much  pains  to  circulate  his  Oracle  among 
the  literati  of  America  and  in  foreign  countries.  He 
sent  copies  not  only  to  the  learned  men  but  to  several 
literary  and  scientific  societies  of  England.  In  a 
letter  to  the  Hon.  St.  Johns,  a  copy  of  which  I  have 
in  my  possession,  says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson,  Allen 
writes,  "I  transmit  to  you  my  Theological  book,  styled 
"Oracle  of  Reason,"  which  you  will  please  to  lay  before 
the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Science  of  Paris,  by  whose 
sentence  I  expect  to  stand  or  fall."  Allen,  although 
never  renouncing  his  infidelity,  changed  his  views,  some- 
what, after  the  publication  of  his  Oracle,  and  toward  the 
close  of  his  life  he  spent  much  time  in  preparing  an  elab- 
orate appendix  to  it.  This  appendix,  in  his  own  hand- 
writing, is  now,  or  was  recently,  in  the  possession  of 
Udney  H.  Penniman,  Esq.,  of  Colchester,  a  son  of  Ethan 
Allen's  widow,  after  her  marriage  to  Dr.  Penniman. 
On  the  cover  of  this  manuscript  is  written  as  follows: 

"This  appendix  is  to  be  published  whenever  it  can 
be  without  infringing  upon  my  present  or  future  living. 

(signed)  ETHAN  ALLEN." 


Character — Keligious  Views — Death.     233 

in  few  words.  It  consisted  in  a  belief  in  the  existence  of 
a  Supreme  Creator  and  Governor  of  the  Universe;  in  a 
belief  that  man  would  be  rewarded  or  punished  in  a 
future  state,  in  accordance  with  his  doings  in  this  life; 
that  reason  is  a  sufficient  guide  for  man,  and  that  a  reve- 
lation is  unnecessary;  and,  being  unnecessary,  has  never 
been  made  and  is  not  to  be  expected.  Whether  the 
"Oracle  of  Reason"  was  the  sole  production  of  Ethan 
Allen,  or  the  joint  production  of  him  and  Dr.  Young, 
may,  perhaps,  never  be  ascertained. 

No  person  who  is  familiar  with  Allen's  other  writings, 
can  read  the  "Oracle  of  Reason"  without  suspicion 
that  some  other  person  was  concerned  in  its  composi- 
tion. 

Allen  prided  himself  very  much  upon  this,  his  great 
work  on  theology,  and  would  not  patiently  brook  any- 
thing said  to  its  disparagement.  A  clergyman,  in  the 
course  of  his  religious  services,  at  which  Allen  was  present, 
once  read  Dr.  Watts'  version  of  the  119th  Psalm,  begin- 
ning thus : 

"  Let  all  the  heathen  writers  join, 
To  form  one  perfect  book, 
Great  God,  if  once  compared  with  Thine, 
How  mean  their  writings  look." 

Allen  hearing  this  and  supposing  the  relation  made  with 
reference  to  himself,  is  said  to  have  been  very  indignant 
and  to  have  left  the  house  in  rage. 

Illustrative  of  the  difference  often  met  by  the  historian 
in  the  narration  of  the  same  anecdote,  the  author  gives 
another  version  of  the  above:  Allen,  who  prided  him- 


234    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

self  upon  his  hospitality,  kept  an  open  door  for  the  clergy 
visiting  his  neighborhood — professedly  on  his  wife's 
account  (his  first  wife  being  a  religious  woman),  but 
apparently  as  much  from  his  predilection  for  argu- 
ment and  pride  of  his  talent  in  a  theological  debate. 
At  one  time  a  Methodist  preacher,  says  our  narrator, 
came  on  a  missionary  tour  into  the  place,  who  proposed 
to  hold  a  meeting  at  Allen's  house.  Ethan  readily  as- 
sented and  notice  was  sent  around  to  the  neighbors. 
However,  as  the  people  began  to  gather,  the  old  hero's 
love  of  controversy  and  fun  began  to  awaken,  and  he 
assured  the  minister  very  positively  that  if  he  preached 
in  his  house  it  must  be  out  of  his  bible — no  definite 
answer  was  given  to  the  proposition — the  time  for  the 
opening  of  the  meeting  had  arrived.  Allen  defiantly 
laid  his  Oracle  of  Reason  on  the  stand.  The  preacher 
without  a  remark  took  out  a  Testament  and  Watts'  hymns 
from  his  side  pocket;  the  Testament  laid  by  the  side  of 
Allen's  "bible";  he  opened  the  hymn-book  and  com- 
menced significantly  to  read, 

"  Let  all  the  heathen  writers  join, 
To  form  one  perfect  book — 

(pointing  to  Allen's  work  as  he  read,  and  then  to  the 
work  of  God  beside), 

Great  God,  when  once  compared  with  Thine, 
How  mean  their  writings  look." 

It  is  said  Allen  snatched  his  book,  with  an  oath,  from 
the  table,  and  the  preacher  proceeded  without  further 
interference  to  fulfill  his  appointment. 


Character — Keligious  Views — Death.      235 

There  is  also  another  very  general  anecdote  bearing 
upon  the  theology  of  Allen,  embodied  in  the  following 
verses,  clipped  from  a  nameless  fragment  of  an  old  news- 
paper: 

"THE  INFIDEL  AND  HIS  DAUGHTER." 

Suggested  by  reading  a  recent  newspaper  paragraph  describ- 
ing the  scene  between  the  brave  old  Ethan  Allen  and  his  daughter 
Lorain  on  the  eve  of  her  death,  when  she  asked  the  stern  infidel 
in  whose  faith  he  would  have  her  to  die,  his  or  her  mother's: 

" '  The  damps  of  death  are  coming  fast, 
My  father,  o'er  my  brow; 
The  past  with  all  its  scenes  has  fled, 
And  I  must  turn  me  now 
To  that  dim  future  which  in  vain 
My  eyes  seek  to  descry ; 
Tell  me,  my  father,  in  this  hour, 
In  whose  belief  to  die. 

" '  In  thine?     I've  watched  thy  scornful  smile 
And  heard  thy  withering  tone, 
Whene'er  the  Christian's  humble  hope 
Was  placed  above  thine  own ; 
I've  heard  thee  speak  of  coming  death 
Without  a  shade  of  gloom, 
And  laugh  at  all  the  childish  fears 
That  cluster  round  the  tomb. 

" '  Or,  is  it  in  my  mother's  faith? 
How  fondly  do  I  trace 
Through  many  a  weary  year  long  past, 
That  calm  and  saintly  face ! 
How  often  do  I  call  to  mind, 
Now  she's  beneath  the  sod, 
The  place,  the  hour,  in  which  she  drew 
My  early  thoughts  to  God! 


236    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

" '  'Twos  then  she  took  this  sacred  book, 
And  from  its  burning  page 
Read  how  its  truths  support  the  soul 
In  faith  and  failing  age, 
And  bade  me  in  its  precepts  live 
And  by  its  precepts  die, 
That  I  might  share  a  home  of  love 
In  worlds  beyond  the  sky. 

" '  My  father,  shall  I  look  above, 
Amid  this  gathering  gloom, 
To  Him  whose  promises  of  Love 
Extend  beyond  the  tomb? 
Or  curse  the  Being  who  hath  blessed 
This  checkered  heart  of  mine? 
Must  I  embrace  my  mother's  faith, 
Or  die,  my  sire,  in  thine?' 

"The  frown  upon  that  warrior  brow 
Passed  like  a  cloud  away, 
And  tears  coursed  down  the  rugged  cheek, 
That  flowed  not  till  that  day. 
'  Not,    not   in   mine, '   with   choking   voice, 
The  skeptic  made  reply — 
'  But  in  thy  mother's  holy  faith, 
My  daughter,  may'st  thou  die.'  " 

With  regard  to  the  general  character  of  Ethan  Allen, 
the  conspicuous  and  commendable  traits  upon  which 
his  fame  rests  were  his  unwavering  patriotism,  his  love 
of  freedom,  his  wisdom,  his  boldness,  courage,  energy, 
perseverance,  his  aptitude  to  command,  his  ability  to 
inspire  those  under  him  with  respect  and  confidence,  his 
high  sense  of  honor  and  probity  and  justice,  his  gener- 
osity and  kindness  and  sympathy  in  the  afflictions  and 
sufferings  of  others.  Opposed  to  these  good  qualities 


Character — Religious  Views — Death.     237 

were  his  self-sufficiency,  his  personal  vanity,  his  occa- 
sional rashness  and  his  sometimes  harsh  and  vulgar  lan-^ 
guage.  All  of  these  characteristic  traits  could  be  abun- 
dantly proved  by  well-known  facts  and  authentic  anec- 
dotes. Many  have  formed  the  opinion  that  Ethan  Allen 
was  a  barbarian,  a  well-nigh  savage,  that  he  was  cruel  and 
revengeful,  and  as  a  warrior,  delighted  in  the  massacre  and 
destruction  of  his  enemies;  but  such  opinions  are  entirely 
erroneous.  Instead  of  being  cruel,  he  was  a  man  of  re- 
markably susceptable  and  tender  feelings,  and  instead  of 
seeking  the  lives  of  his  enemies  who  fell  into  his  power, 
there  is  no  proof  that  he  ever  took  the  life  of  a  human 
being  with  his  own  hand. 

Ethan  Allen,  like  all  other  men,  had  his  good  and  bad 
qualities,  his  virtues  and  his  vices,  and  these  were  all 
exhibited  in  him  in  bold  relief,  like  the  objects  in  a  pic- 
ture which  is  weh1  wrought  and  true  to  nature.  The 
lights  and  shades,  the  beauties  and  deformities  of  his 
character  stand  out  with  remarkable  prominence  and 
distinctness,  and  it  is  necessary  to  consider  all  these  in 
connection,  in  order  to  form  a  true  estimate  of  the  man. 
Those  who  look  only  at  his  generosity,  his  honesty,  his 
bravery,  and  his  unconquerable  love  of  freedom,  will 
be  disposed  to  regard  him  as  a  paragon  of  great  and  god- 
like qualities;  while  others  who  look  chiefly  at  his  self- 
confidence,  his  personal  vanity  and  his  often  profane 
and  vulgar  language,  will  regard  him  as  the  personifica- 
tion of  vice  and  meanness.  Allen's  character,  as  a  whole, 
was  not  unlike  that  of  our  native  mountain  forest  scenery. 
It  was  wild  and  uncultivated,  and  at  the  same  time  ex- 
hibited much  of  the  sublime  and  beautiful.  We  find  in  it 


238    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

very  much  to  approve  and  admire,  and  not  a  little  to 
condemn  and  despise.  We  are  at  one  time  surprised  and 
astonished  at  his  heroism  and  magnanimity,  and  at 
another  disgusted  and  made  ashamed  by  his  profanity 
and  vulgarity.  Or,  he  may  be  compared  to  the  stately 
oak,  growing  in  all  its  luxuriance  and  majesty  in  the 
midst  of  our  native  forests,  and  whose  form  was  never 
made  symmetrical  by  the  judicious  application  of  the 
pruning  knife,  whose  asperities  were  never  removed  by 
the  hand  of  cultivation;  the  roughness  and  extravagance 
of  his  character  were  only  the  natural  excrescences  which 
resulted  from  the  uncommon  vigor  of  his  growth. 

Vermont  is  indebted  for  her  independence  and  the 
establishment  of  her  government  mainly  to  three  indi- 
viduals; these  were  Ethan  and  Ira  Allen  and  Thomas 
Chittenden.  Thos.  Chittenden  was  her  chief  magistrate, 
Ira  Allen,  her  diplomatist  and  Ethan  Allen  her  military 
chieftain.  Each  deserves  honorable  commemoration 
by  the  state,  especially  the  first  and  last.  As  Washington 
was  the  father  of  his  country  so  was  Thomas  Chittenden 
the  father  of  Vermont,  and  as  Washington  was  a  terror 
to  the  enemies  of  American  Independence,  so  was  Ethan 
Allen  a  terror  to  the  enemies  of  Vermont. 

In  considering  the  various  events  in  the  life  of  Colonel 
Allen,  we  must  concede  that  he  was  a  staunch  friend 
of  his  country,  a  brave  soldier,  a  good  citizen  and  an 
honest  and  just  man.  To  the  poor  his  hand  was  ever  open, 
and  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed,  his  energies  were  ever 
directed.  He  was,  in  brief,  of  that  class  of  men  who 
freely  offered  up  their  all  in  defense  of  the  liberties  of  this 
now  happy  and  prosperous  nation,  and  as  such,  his 


LOK.il 


Character — Religious  Views — Death.     239 

deeds  and  his  fame  are  associated  with  all  our  political 
and  civil  privileges  and  blessings. 

Washington's  masterly  knowledge  of  human  nature 
gives  value  to  this  brief  portrait  of  Allen.  Immediately 
on  being  released  from  captivity  Colonel  Allen,  visited 
Washington  at  Valley  Forge.  Shortly  thereafter  Wash- 
ington addressed  the  Congress  in  regard  to  Allen  as  fol- 
lows: 

"His  fortitude  and  firmness  seem  to  have  placed  him 
out  of  the  reach  of  misfortune.  There  is  an  original 
something  about  him  that  commands  admiration,  and 
his  long  captivity  and  sufferings  have  only  served  to 
increase,  if  possible,  his  enthusiastic  zeal.  He  appears 
very  desirous  of  rendering  his  services  to  the  States  and 
of  being  employed,  and  at  the  same  time  he  does  not 
display  any  ambition  for  high  rank." 

Senator  Edmunds  of  Vermont  says :  '  'Colonel  Ethan 
Allen  was  a  man  of  gifts  rather  than  acquirements,  al- 
though he  was  not  by  any  means  deficient  in  that  knowl- 
edge obtained  from  reading  and  from  intercourse  with 
men.  But  it  was  the  natural  force  of  his  character  that 
made  him  eminent  among  the  worthiest  who  founded 
the  republic,  and  pre-eminent  among  those  who  founded 
the  State  of  Vermont." 

Colonel  John  A.  Graham,  who  knew  Allen  well  the 
last  two  or  three  years  of  his  life,  published  a  book  in 
England  a  few  years  after  Allen's  death,  and  therein  says: 
"Ethan  Allen  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  character. 
He  possessed  great  talents  but  was  deficient  in  education. 
In  all  his  dealings  he  displayed  the  strictest  sense  of 
honor,  integrity  and  uprightness." 


240    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

The  Honorable  Daniel  P.  Thompson  attributes  to 
him  "wisdom,  aptitude  to  command,  ability  to  inspire 
respect  and  confidence,  a  high  sense  of  honor,  generosity 
and  kindness." 

Jared  Sparks  calls  him  "brave,  generous,  consistent, 
true  to  his  friends,  true  to  his  country,  seeking  at  all 
times  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  mankind." 

Governor  Hiland  Hall  says:  "He  acquired  much 
information  by  reading  and  observation.  His  knowl- 
edge of  the  political  situation  of  the  state  and  country 
was  general  and  accurate.  As  a  writer,  he  was  ready, 
clear  and  forcible.  His  style  attracted  and  fixed  atten- 
tion and  inspired  confidence  in  his  sincerity  and 
justice." 

John  Jay  speaks  of  Allen's  writings  as  having  "wit, 
quaintness  and  impudence." 

In  all  the  trying  scenes  of  his  life ;  in  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  a  long  and  cruel  captivity,  Allen  was  never  forgetful 
of  the  rights  of  his  fellow  men,  or  of  the  cause  of  his 
country's  liberty.  He  nobly  spurned,  the  honors  which 
were  offered  him  to  join  the  royal  standard,  as  unworthy  of 
the  principles  which  governed  him.  He  stood  firm  in  his 
resolution  to  see  his  country  free  or  die  in  its  defense.  The 
last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  Burlington,  Vermont, 
where  he  pursued  the  avocation  of  a  farmer.  Several 
letters  written  by  him  and  his  brother  Ira  during  that 
period  are  still  preserved.  From  them  it  appears  that 
on  account  of  a  partial  failure  of  the  crops  and  the  great 
ingress  of  settlers  into  that  part  of  the  country,  there 
was  a  distressing  scarcity  of  food,  both  for  man  and 
beast.  Colonel  Ebenezer  Allen,  who  commanded  a 


Character — Religious  Views — Death.     241 

company  of  rangers  during  the  Revolution  and  who 
rendered  himself  famous  by  many  daring  exploits,  was 
at  this  time  located  at  the  place  now  called  Allen's  Point. 
He  and  Ethan  were  on  terms  of  intimacy,  and  hay  being 
scarce  in  the  winter  of  1789,  and  Ethan's  supply 
being  short,  Ebenezer  told  him  that  if  he  would  come 
over  to  the  island  with  his  team  and  make  him  a 
visit,  he  would  furnish  him  with  a  load  of  hay  on  his 
return.  Accordingly  on  the  10th  of  February,  Ethan, 
with  his  sleigh  and  a  span  of  horses  and  his  colored 
driver,  crossed  over  on  the  ice  to  the  island.  Ebenezer 
invited  in  some  neighbors,  who  were  old  acquaintances 
of  Ethan's,  and  the  afternoon  and  evening  were  passed 
very  agreeably  in  recalling  past  incidents  and  telling 
stories.  Ethan  had  intended  to  return  in  the  evening, 
and  the  hay  was  loaded  and  in  readiness,  but  on  ac- 
count of  the  urgency  of  Ebenezer,  he  remained  till  nearly 
morning,  when  he  got  upon  the  load  of  hay  and  with  his 
driver  started  for  his  home  in  Burlington.  The  driver 
called  to  him  several  times  on  the  way,  but  received  no 
answer;  he  did  not  suspect  that  anything  unusual  was 
the  matter  until  he  arrived  at  Ethan's  residence.  He 
then  went  to  his  master  and  found  him  dead,  or  in  a  fit, 
from  which  he  shortly  afterward  died.  Ira  Allen  in  a 
a  letter  to  Levi  (then  in  London),  says,  in  relation  to  this 
event:  "I  arrived  at  Burlington  on  the  12th  of  February 
and  was  surprised  with  the  solemn  news  of  the  death  of 
General  Allen,  who  departed  this  life  that  day  in  a  fit  of 
apoplexy.  On  the  16th  his  remains  were  interred  with 
the  honors  of  war.  His  military  friends  from  Bennington 
and  parts  adjacent  attended,  and  the  procession  was  truly 


242    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

solemn  and  numerous."  His  remains  rest  in  a  pleasant 
valley  near  the  little  city  of  Winooski  on  the  banks 
of  the  beautiful  Winooski  river,  where  his  grave  is 
surrounded  by  those  of  many  of  his  kindred.  His 
burial  place  is  marked  by  a  marble  slab  on  which  is  the 
following  inscription: 

The 
Corporeal  Part 

of 
GENERAL    ETHAN    ALLEN 

Rests  beneath  this  stone 
The  12th  day  of  February,  1789, 

Aged  52  Years. 

His  spirit  tried  the   mercies   of  his   God, 
In   whom   he   believed,   and   strongly  trusted. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CORRESPONDENCE — STATE  PAPERS — DOCUMENTS. 

The  character  of  Ethan  Allen  is  so  plainly  manifest 
all  through  this  narrative,  which,  is  to  a  large  extent 
a  memoir,  that  little  need  be  said  in  conclusion.  A  few 
letters,  state  papers,  etc.,  that  have  been  overlooked 
in  the  general  discussion  may,  with  propriety,  form  the 
concluding  chapter  of  the  life  story  of  one  of  the  most 
striking  characters  that  the  Revolution  produced. 

The  following  letters  written  by  Colonel  Allen  furnish 
us  with  additional  information  on  the  taking  of  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  which  makes  the  incident  stand  out  more 
vividly  for  twentieth  century  readers,  few  among  whom 
remember  little  more  than  the  name  of  this  hero  of 
Green  Mountain  fame: 

Ticonderoga,  May  11,  1775. 
To  the  Massachusetts  Congress: 

Gentlemen: — I  have  to  inform  you  with  pleasure 
unfelt  before,  that  on  break  of  day  of  the  10th  of  May, 
1775,  by  the  order  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony 
of  Connecticut,  I  took  the  fortress  of  Ticonderoga  by 
storm.  The  soldiery  was  composed  of  about  one  hundred 
Green  Mountain  Boys  and  near  fifty  veteran  soldiers 
from  the  Province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  The 
latter  was  under  the  command  of  Colonel  James  Easton, 

243 


244    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

who  behaved  with  great  zeal  and  fortitude  not  only  in 
council,  but  in  the  assault.  The  soldiery  behaved  with 
such  resistless  fury,  that  they  so  terrified  the  King's 
Troops  that  they  durst  not  fire  on  their  assailants,  and 
our  soldiery  was  agreeably  disappointed.  The  soldiery 
behaved  with  uncommon  rancor  when  they  leaped  into 
the  Fort;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  Colonel  has 
greatly  contributed  to  the  taking  of  that  Fortress,  as 
well  as  John  Brown,  Esq.,  Attorney  at  Law,  who  was 
also  an  able  counselor,  and  was  personally  in  the  attack. 
I  expect  the  Colonies  will  maintain  this  Fort.  As  to 
the  cannon  and  warlike  stores,  I  hope  they  may  serve 
the  cause  of  liberty  instead  of  tyranny,  and  I  humbly 
implore  your  assistance  in  immediately  assisting  the 
Government  of  Connecticut  in  establishing  a  garrison 
in  the  reduced  premises.  Colonel  Easton  will  inform 
you  at  large. 

From,  gentlemen,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

ETHAN  ALLEN. 

Ticonderoga,  May  12th,  1775. 

To  the  Honorable  Congress  of  the  Province  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  or  Council  of  War. 

Honorable  Sirs: — I  make  you  a  present  of  a  major, 
a  captain,  and  two  lieutenants  in  the  regular  establish- 
ment of  George  the  Third.  I  hope  they  may  serve  as 
ransoms  for  some  of  our  friends  at  Boston,  and  particu- 
larly for  Captain  Brown  of  Rhode  Island.  A  party  of 
men  under  the  command  of  Captain  Herrick  has  taken 
possession  of  Skenesborough,  imprisoned  Major  Skene, 
and  seized  a  schooner  of  his.  I  expect  in  ten  days'  time 


Correspondence.  245 

to  have  it  rigged,  manned,  and  armed  with  six  or  eight 
pieces  of  cannon,  which,  with  the  boats  in  our  posses- 
sion, I  propose  to  make  an  attack  on  the  armed 
sloop  of  George  the  Third,  which  is  now  cruising  on  Lake 
Ghamplain,  and  is  about  twice  as  big  as  the  schoonor. 
I  hope  in  a  short  time  to  be  authorized  to  acquaint  your 
Honor  that  Lake  Champlain  and  the  fortifications 
thereon,  are  subject  to  the  Colonies.  The  enterprise  has 
been  approved  by  the  officers  and  the  soldiery  of  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  nor  do  I  hesitate  as  to  the  success. 
I  expect  lives  must  be  lost  in  the  attack,  as  the  com- 
mander of  George's  sloop  is  a  man  of  courage,  etc.  I 
conclude  Captain  Warner  is  by  this  time  in  possession  of 
Crown  Point,  the  ordinance,  stores,  etc.  I  conclude 
Governor  Carleton  will  exert  himself  to  oppose  us,  and 
command  the  Lake,  etc.  Messrs.  Hickok,  Halsey  and 
Nichols  have  the  charge  of  conducting  the  officers  to  Hart- 
ford. These  gentlemen  have  been  very  assiduous  and 
active  in  the  late  expedition.  I  depend  upon  your 
Honor's  aid  and  assistance  in  a  situation  so  contiguous 
to  Canada.  I  subscribe  myself  your  Honor's  ever  faith- 
ful, most  obedient  and  humble  servant. 

ETHAN    ALLEN. 

At  present    Commander    of    Ticonderoga. 
To   the   Honorable   Jonathan  Trumbull,   Esq.,   Captain 
General  and  Governor  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut. 

St.  Johns',   May   18th,   1775. 
To   Mr.   James   Morrison   and  the   Merchants   that   are 

friendly  to  the  Cause  of  Liberty  in  Montreal. 
Gentlemen:     I  have  the  pleasure  to  acquaint  you  that 


240)    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  with  the  fortresses,  artil- 
lery, etc,  particularly  the  armed  sloop  of.  George  the 
Third,  with  all  water  carriages  of  these  lakes,  are  now  in 
possession  of  the  Colonies.  I  expect  the  English  mer- 
chants, as  well  as  all  virtuously  disposed  gentlemen  will 
be  in  the  interest  of  the  Colonies.  The  advanced  guard 
of  the  army  is  now  at  St.  Johns'  and  desire  immediately 
to  have  a  personal  interview  with  you.  Your  imme- 
diate assistance  as  to  provisions,  ammunition,  and  spirit- 
uous liquors  is  wanted  and  forthwith  expected,  not  as  a 
donation,  for  I  am  empowered  by  the  Colonies  to  pur- 
chase the  same;  and  I  desire  you  would  forthwith  and 
without  further  notice  prepare  for  the  use  of  the  army 
those  articles  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  pounds,  and 
deliver  the  same  to  me  at  St.  Johns, 'or  at  least  a  part  of  it, 
almost  instantaneously,  as  the  soldiers  press  on  faster 
than  provisions. 

I  need  not  inform  you  that  my  directions  from  the 
Colonies  are,  not  to  contend  with  or  in  any  way  injure  or 
molest  the  Canadians  or  Indians;  but  on  the  other  hand, 
treat  them  with  the  greatest  friendship  and  kindness. 
You  will  be  pleased  to  communicate  the  same  to  them, 
and  some  of  you  immediately  visit  me  at  this  place, 
while  others  are  active  in  delivering  the  provisions. 
I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Your    obedient    servant, 

ETHAN  ALLEN. 

On  May  24th,    1775,  Allen  addressed  the  following 
letter  to  the  Indians  of  Canada: 


Correspondence.  247 

Headquarters  of  the  Army,  Crown  Point. 

By  advice  of  council  of  the  officers,  I  recommend  our 
trusty  and  well-beloved  friend  and  brother,  Captain 
Abraham  Ninham  of  Stockbridge,  as  our  ambassador  of 
peace  to  our  good  brother  Indians  of  the  four  tribes, 
viz.,  the  Hocnaurigoes,  the  Surgaches,  the  Canesdauguas 
and  the  Saint  Fransawas. 

Loving  brothers  and  friends,  I  have  to  inform  you 
that  George  the  Third,  King  of  England,  has  made  war 
with  the  English  colonies  in  America,  who  have  ever  until 
now  been  his  good  subjects,  and  sent  his  army  and  killed 
some  of  your  good  friends  and  brothers  at  Boston,  in 
the  Prince  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  Then  your  good 
brothers  in  that  Province,  and  in  all  the  Colonies  of  Eng- 
lish America,  made  war  with  King  George  and  have  be- 
gun to  kill  the  men  of  his  army,  and  have  taken  Ticon- 
deroga  and  Crown  Point  from  him,  and  all  the  artillery, 
and  also  a  great  sloop  which  was  at  St.  Johns',  and  all 
the  boats  in  the  lake,  and  have  raised  and  are  raising  two 
great  armies;  one  is  destined  for  Boston,  and  the  other 
for  the  fortresses  and  department  of  Lake  Champlain, 
to  fight  the  King's  troops  that  oppose  the  Colonies  from 
Canada;  and  as  King  George's  soldiers  killed  our  broth- 
ers and  friends  in  a  time  of  peace,  I  hope,  as  Indians 
are  good  and  honest  men,  you  will  not  fight  for  King 
George  against  your  friends  in  America,  as  they  have 
done  you  no  wrong,  and  desire  to  live  with  you  as  broth- 
ers. You  know  it  is  good  for  my  warriors  and  Indians 
too,  to  kill  the  Regulars,  because  they  first  begun  to  kill 
our  brothers  in  this  country  without  cause. 


248    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

I  was  always  a  friend  to  the  Indians,  and  have  hunted 
with  them  many  times,  and  know  how  to  shoot  and  am- 
bush like  Indians,  and  am  a  great  hunter.  I  want  to  have 
your  warriors  come  and  see  me,  and  help  me  fight  the 
King's  regular  troops.  You  know  they  stand  all  along 
close  together  rank  and  file,  and  my  men  will  fight  as  the 
Indians  do,  and  I  want  your  warriors  to  join  with  me  and 
my  warriors  like  brothers  and  ambush  the  regulars ;  if  you 
will,  I  will  give  you  money,  blankets,  tomahawks,  knives, 
paint  and  anything  there  is  in  the  army,  just  like  broth- 
ers; and  I  will  go  with  you  into  the  woods  to  scout, 
and  my  men  and  your  men  will  sleep  together  and  eat  and 
drink  together,  and  fight  Regulars  because  they  first 
killed  our  brothers  and  will  fight  against  us;  therefore  I 
want  our  brother  Indians  to  help  us  fight,  for  I  know 
Indians  are  good  warriors  and  can  fight  well  in  the  bush. 

Ye  know  my  warriors  must  fight,  but  if  you,  our 
brother  Indians,  do  not  fight  on  either  side,  we  will  still 
be  friends  and  brothers;  and  you  may  come  and  hunt  in 
our  woods,  and  come  with  your  canoes  in  the  lake,  and 
let  us  have  venison  at  our  forest  on  the  lake,  and  have 
rum,  bread,  and  what  you  want,  and  be  like  brothers. 
I  have  sent  our  friend  Winthrop  Hoit  to  treat  with  you 
on  our  behalf  in  friendship.  You  know  him,  for  he  has 
lived  with  you,  and  is  your  adopted  son,  and  is  a  good 
man ;  Captain  Ninham  of  Stockb ridge  and  he  will  tell  you 
about  the  whole  matter  more  than  I  can  write.  I  hope 
your  warriors  will  come  and  see  me.  So  I  bid  all  my 
brother  Indians  farewell. 

ETHAN   ALLEN, 
Colonel  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys. 


Correspondence.  249 

On  May  2yth,  1775,  from  Crown  Point,  Allen  ad- 
dressed the  Continental  Congress  as  follows: 

An  abstract  of  the  action  of  Congress  has  just  come 
to  hand:  and  though  it  approves  of  the  taking  the  for- 
tress on  Lake  Champlain  and  the  artillery,  etc.,  I  am, 
nevertheless,  much  surprised  that  your  Honors  should 
recommend  it  to  us  to  remove  the  artillery  to  the  south 
end  of  Lake  George,  and  there  to  make  a  stand;  the 
consequences  of  which  must  ruin  the  frontier  settlements, 
which  are  extended  at  least  one  hundered  miles  to  the 
northward  from  that  place.  Probably  your  Honors 
were  not  informed  of  these  settlements,  which  consist  of 
several  thousand  families  who  are  seated  on  that  tract  of 
country,  called  the  New  Hampshire  Grants.  Those  in- 
habitants, by  making  those  valuable  acquisitions  for 
the  Colonies,  have  incensed  Governor  Carleton  and  all 
the  ministerial  party  in  Canada  against  them;  and  pro- 
vided they  should,  after  all  their  good  service  in  behalf 
of  their  country,  be  neglected  and  left  exposed,  they  will 
be  of  all  men  the  most  consummately  miserably. 

If  the  King's  troops  be  again  in  possession  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  and  Crown  Point,  and  command  the  Lake,  the 
Indians  and  Canadians  will  be  much  more  inclined  to 
join  with  them  and  make  incursions  into  the  heart  of  our 
country.  But  the  Colonies  are  now  in  possession  and  in 
actual  command  of  the  Lake,  having  taken  the  armed 
sloop  from  George  the  Third,  which  was  cruising  in  the 
Lake,  also  seized  a  schooner  belonging  to  Major  Skene 
at  South  Bay,  and  have  armed  and  manned  them  both. 
The  Canadians  (all  except  the  noblesse)  and  also  the  In- 
dians appear  at  present  to  be  very  friendly  to  us ;  and  it 


250    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

is  my  humble  opinion  that  the  more  vigorous  the  Colonies 
push  the  war  against  the  King's  troops  in  Canada,  the 
more  friends  we  shall  find  in  that  country.  Provided 
I  had  but  500  men  with  me  at  St.  Johns'  (18th  May)  when 
we  took  the  King's  sloop,  I  would  have  advanced  to  Mon- 
treal. Nothing  strengthens  our  friends  in  Canada  equal 
to  our  prosperity  in  taking  the  sovereignty  of  Lake 
Champlain,  and  should  the  Colonies  forthwith  send  an 
army  of  two  or  three  thousand  men  and  attack  Mon- 
treal, we  should, have  little  to  fear  from  the  Canadians 
or  Indians,  and  should  easily  make  a  conquest  of  that 
place,  and  set  up  the  standard  of  liberty  in  the  extensive 
province  of  Quebec,  whose  limit  was  enlarged  purely 
to  subvert  the  liberties  of  America.  Striking  such  a  blow 
would  intimidate  the  tory  party  in  Canada,  the  same  as 
the  commencement  of  the  war  at  Boston  intimidated  the 
tories  in  the  Colonies.  They  are  a  set  of  gentlemen  that 
will  not  be  converted  by  reason,  but  are  easily  wrought 
upon  by  fear. 

By  a  council  of  war  held  on  board  the  sloop  the  27th 
inst.,  it  was  agreed  to  advance  to  Point  Aufere  with  the 
sloop  and  schooner,  and  a  number  of  armed  boats  well 
manned,  and  there  make  a  stand,  act  on  the  defensive, 
and  by  all  means  command  the  lake  and  defend  the  fron- 
tiers. Point  Aufere  is  about  six  miles  this  side  of  forty- 
five  degrees  north  latitude,  but  if  the  wisdom  of  the 
Continental  Congress  should  view  the  proposed  invasion 
of  the  King's  troops  in  Canada  as  premature  and  im- 
politic, nevertheless  I  humbly  conceive,  when  your 
Honors  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  before-mentioned 
facts,  you  will  at  least  establish  some  advantageous  situ- 


Correspondence.  251 

ation  toward  the  northerly  part  of  Lake  Champlain,  as 
a  frontier,  instead  of  the  south  promontory  of  George. 
Commanding  the  northerly  part  of  the  lake,  puts  it  in  our 
power  to  work  our  policy  with  the  Canadians  and  Indians. 
We  have  made  considerable  proficiency  this  way  already. 
Sundry  tribes  have  been  to  visit  us,  and  have  returned 
to  their  tribes  to  use  their  influence  in  our  favor.  We 
have  just  sent  Captain  Graham  Ninham,  a  Stockb ridge 
Indian,  as  our  ambassador  of  peace  to  the  several  tribes 
of  Indians  in  Canada.  He  was  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Winthrop  Hoit,  who  has  been  a  prisoner  with  the  Indians 
and  understands  their  tongue.  I  do  not  imagine,  pro- 
vided we  command  Lake  Champlain,  there  will  be  any 
need  of  a  war  with  the  Canadians  or  Indians. 

ETHAN   ALLEN. 

To  the  Honorable  Provincial  Congress,  New  York. 

Crownpoint,  2d  of  June,  1775. 
Respectable  Gentlemen:  Before  this  time,  you  have, 
undoubtedly,  received  intelligence  not  only  of  the  taking 
of  the  fortified  places  on  Lake  Champlain,  and  also  the 
armed  sloop  and  boats  therein,  and  the  taking  possession 
of  a  schooner  which  is  the  property  of  Major  Skene, — 
and  armed  and  manned  it,  and  of  the  conversion  of  them, — 
with  a  large  train  of  artillery,  to  the  defense  of  the  liberty 
and  constitutional  rights  of  America.  You  have,  like- 
wise, undoubtedly,  been  informed  that  the  expedition 
was  undertaken  at  the  special  encouragement  and  re- 
quest of  a  number  of  respectable  gentlemen  in  the  Colony 
of  Connecticut.  The  pork  forwarded  to  subsist  the 
army,  by  your  Honors'  directions,  evinces  your  approba- 


252    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

tion  of  the  procedure,  and  as  it  was  a  private  expedition, 
and  common  fame  reports  that  there  are  a  number  of  over- 
grown tories  in  the  province,  your  Honors  will  the  readier 
excuse  me  in  not  first  taking  your  advice  in  the  matter, 
lest  the  enterprises  might  have  been  prevented  by  their 
treachery.  It  is  here  reported,  that  some  of  them  have 
lately  been  savagely  converted,  and  that  others  have 
lost  their  influence.  If,  in  those  achievements,  there  be 
anything  honorary,  the  subjects  of  your  government, 
viz.,  the  New  Hampshire  settlers,  are  justly  entitled  to  a 
large  share,  as  they  had  a  great  majority  of  numbers  of 
the  soldiery,  as  well  as  the  command  in  making  acquisi- 
tions; and,  as  your  Honors  justify  and  approve  the 
same,  I  desire  and  expect  your  Honors  already  have,  or 
soon  will,  lay  before  the  grand  Continental  Congress,  the 
great  disadvantage  it  must  eventually  be  to  the  Colonies 
to  evacuate  Lake  Champlain  and  give  up  to  the  enemies 
of  our  country  those  invaluable  acquisitions,  the  key  of 
either  Canada  or  of  our  country,  according  as  which 
party  holds  the  same  in  possession,  and  makes  a  proper 
improvement  of  it.  The  key  is  ours  as  yet;  and,  pro- 
vided the  Colonies  would  suddenly  push  an  army  of 
two  or  three  thousand  men  into  Canada,  they  might 
make  a  conquest  of  all  that  would  oppose  them  in  the 
extensive  Province  of  Quebec,  except  reinforcements  from 
England  should  prevent  it.  Such  a  diversion  would 
weaken  General  Gage,  or  insure  us  of  Canada.  I  wish 
in  God,  America  would,  at  this  critical  juncture,  exert 
herself  agreeable  to  the  indignity  offered  her  by  a  tyran- 
nical ministry.  She  might  rise,  on  eagles'  wings,  and 
mount  up  to  glory,  freedom  and  immortal  honor  if 


Correspondence.  253 

she  did  know  and  exert  her  strength.  Fame  is  now 
hovering  over  her  head.  A  vast  continent  must 
now  sink  to  slavery,  freedom,  immense  wealth,  inex- 
pressible felicity  and  immortal  fame.  I  will  lay  my  life 
on  it,  that  with  fifteen  hundred  men  and  a  proper  artil- 
lery, I  will  take  Montreal;  provided  I  could  thus  be 
furnished;  and  if  an  army  could  command  the  field,  it 
would  be  no  insuperable  difficulty  to  take  Quebec.  This 
object  should  be  pursued,  though  it  should  take  ten 
thousand  men  to  accomplish  the  end  proposed,  for  Eng- 
land cannot  spare  but  a  certain  number  that  are  disci- 
plined, and  it  is  as  long  as  it  is  broad,  the  more  that  are  sent 
to  Quebec,  the  less  they  can  send  to  Boston  or  to  any 
other  part  of  the  continent,  and  there  will  be  this  un- 
speakable advantage  in  directing  the  war  into  Canada, 
that  instead  of  turning  the  Canadians  and  Indians  against 
us  (as  is  wrongly  suggested  by  many),  it  would  unavoid- 
ably attain  and  connect  them  to  our  interest.  Our 
friends  in  Canada  can  never  help  us,  till  we  first  help 
them,  except  in  a  passive  or  inactive  manner.  There  are 
now  but  about  seven  hundred  regular  troops  in  Canada. 
I  have  lately  had  sundry  conferences  with  the  Indians; 
they  are  very  friendly.  Captain  Abraham  Ninham,  a 
Stockbridge  Indian  and  Mr.  Winthrop  Hoit,  who  has 
sundry  years  lived  with  the  Cachnewagas,  in  the  capacity 
of  a  prisoner,  and  was  made  an  adopted  son  to  a  motherly 
squaw  of  that  tribe,  have  both  been  gone  ten  days  to 
treat  with  the  Indians  as  our  ambassadors  of  peace  and 
friendship.  I  expect,  in  a  few  weeks,  to  hear  from  them. 
By  them  I  sent  a  friendly  letter  to  the  Indians  which 
Mr.  Hoit  can  explain  to  them  in  Indian.  The  thing  that 


254   Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

so  unites  the  temper  of  the  Indians  to  us,  is  our  taking  the 
sovereignty  of  Lake  Champlain.  They  have  wit  enough 
to  make  a  good  bargain,  and  stand  by  the  strongest  side ; 
much  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Canadians.  They 
have  no  personal  controversy  with  us,  but  act  on  political 
principles.  If  we  evacuate  Lake  Champlain  and  retire  to 
Lake  George,  Governor  Carleton  can  and  will  by  intrigue 
draw  them  into  his  interest.  If  we  hold  the  suprem- 
acy we  shall  do  the  same,  for  cunning  and  power  are 
but  the  same  thing,  be  it  exercised  either  by  Carleton  or 
by  us;  but  cunning  without  power  can  hold  no  equal 
contest  with  that  which  is  armed  with  it.  It  may  be 
thought  that  to  push  an  army  into  Canada  would  be  too 
premature  and  imprudent;  if  so,  I  propose  to  make  a 
stand  at  the  Isle  aux  Noix, which  the  French  fortified  by 
entrenchment  the  last  war,  and  greatly  fatigued  our 
enemy  to  take  it.  It  is  about  fifteen  miles  this  side  of 
Saint  Johns',  and  is  an  island  in  the  river,  on  which  a 
small  artillery,  placed,  would  command  it.  An  establish^ 
ment  of  a  frontier  so  far  north  would  not  only  better  se- 
cure our  own  frontier,  but  put  it  into  our  power  to  better 
work  our  policy  with  the  Canadians  and  Indians;  or,  if 
need  be,  to  make  incursions  into  the  territory  of  Canada, 
the  same  as  they  could  into  our  country,  provided  they 
had  the  sovereignty  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  had  erected 
headquarters  at,  or  near,  Skenesborough.  Our  only 
having  it  in  our  power  to  thus  make  incursions  into  Canada 
might  probably  be  the  very  reason  why  it  would  be  unnec- 
essary so  to  do,  even  if  the  Canadians  should  prove  more 
refractory  than  I  think  for.  Lastly  with  submission,  I 
would  propose  to  your  Honors  to  raise  a  small  regiment 


Correspondence.  255 

of  rangers,  which  I  could  easily  do,  and  that  mostly  in 
the  counties  of  Albany  and  Charlotte,  provided  your 
Honors  should  think  it  expedient  to  grant  commissions, 
and  thus  regulate  and  put  the  same  under  pay.  Probably 
your  Honors  may  think  this  an  important  proposal.  It  is 
truly,  the  first  favor  I  ever  asked  of  the  Government;  and 
if  it  be  granted,  I  shall  be  zealously  ambitious  to  conduct 
for  the  best  good  of  my  country,  and  the  honor  of  the 
Government. 

I  subscribe  myself,  Gentlemen,  with  due  respect,  your 
Honors'  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

ETHAN    ALLEN. 

P.  S.  Gentlemen,  in  the  narrative  contained  in  the 
enclosed  was  too  materially  omitted  the  valor  and  intre- 
pidity of  Colonel  James  Easton,  and  forty-six  veteran 
soldiers  from  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  who  assisted  in  the 
taking  of  Ticonderoga.  Colonel  Easton  is  just  returned 
from  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachussetts  Bay  to 
this  place,  and  expects  he  will  soon  have  the  command 
of  a  regiment  from  that  province. 

Yours,  etc., 

ETHAN   ALLEN. 

Ticonderoga,  the  4th  of  June,  1775. 

To   our   worthy   and   respectable   friends   and   country, 
and  the  French  People  of  Canada. 

GREETING 

Friends  and  fellow-countrymen :  You  are,  undoubtedly, 
more  of  less  acquainted  with  the  unnatural  and  un- 
happy controversy  subsisting  between  Great  Britain 
and  her  colonies,  the  particulars  of  which,  in  this  letter, 


256    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

we  do  not  expatiate  upon,  but  refer  your  consideration 
to  the  justice  and  equitableness  thereof,  on  the  part  of 
the  colonies,  to  the  former  knowledge  that  you  have  had 
of  this  matter.  We  need  only  observe  that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  colonies  view  the  controversy,  on  their  part, 
to  be  justifiable  in  the  sight  of  God  and  all  unprejudiced 
and  honest  men  that  have,  or  may  have,  opportunity 
and  ability  to  examine  into  the  merits  of  it.  Upon  this 
principle,  those  inhabitants  determine  to  vindicate  their 
cause,  and  maintain  their  natural  and  constitutional 
rights  and  liberties,  at  the  expense  of  their  lives  and 
fortunes;  but  have  not  the  least  disposition  to  injure 
molest  or  in  any  way  deprive  our  fellow  subjects,  the 
Canadians,  of  their  liberty  or  property;  nor  have  they  any 
design  to  wage  war  against  them;  and  from  all  intima- 
tions that  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  colonies  have  re- 
ceived from  the  Canadians,  it  has  appeared  that  they 
were  alike  disposed  for  friendship  and  neutrality,  and 
not  at  all  disposed  to  take  part  with  the  King's  troops 
in  the  present  civil  war,  against  the  colonies.  We  were, 
nevertheless,  surprised  to  hear  that  a  number  of  about 
thirty  Canadians  attacked  our  reconnoitering  party,  con- 
sisting of  four  men — fired  on  them,  and  pursued  them 
and  obliged  them  to  return  the  fire.  This  is  the  account 
of  the  party  which  have  since  arrived  at  Headquarters. 
We  desire  to  know  of  any  gentleman  Canadian,  the  facts 
of  the  case,  as  one  story  is  good  till  another  is  told.  Our 
general  orders  to  the  soldiery  was  that  they  should  not 
on  pain  of  death,  molest  of  kill  any  of  your  people,  but 
if  it  shall  appear,  upon  examination  that  our  reconnoi- 
tering party  commenced  hostilities  against  your  people, 


Correspondence.  257 

they  shall  suffer  agreeable  to  the  sentence  of  a  Court 
Martial,  for  our  special  orders  from  the  colonies  are  to 
befriend  and  protect  you  if  need  be,  so  that  if  you  desire 
their  friendship,  you  are  invited  to  embrace  it,  for  noth- 
ing can  be  more  undesirable  to  your  friends  in  the 
colonies,  than  a  war  with  their  fellow  subjects,  the  Cana- 
dians, or  with  the  Indians.  You  are  very  sensible  that 
war  has  already  commenced  between  England  and  the 
colonies.  Hostilities  have  already  begun.  To  fight 
the  King's  troops  has  become  a  necessary  and  incumbent 
duty.  The  colonies  cannot  avoid  it,  but  pray  is  it  neces- 
sary that  the  Canadians  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Eng- 
lish colonies  should  butcher  one  another?  God  forbid! 
There  is  no  controversy  subsisting  between  you  and  them. 
Pray  let  old  England  and  the  colonies  fight  it  out,  and 
you,  Canadians,  stand  by  and  see  what  an  arm  of  flesh 
can  do.  We  are  apprehensive  that  the  conduct  of  your 
people  before  complained  of,  had  not  a  general  approba- 
tion; and  are  still  confident  that  your  country,  as  such, 
will  not  wage  war  with  the  colonies  or  approve  the  afore- 
said hostile  conduct  of  your  people,  as  we  conceive  it  to 
be  impolitic  to  the  last  degree,  for  the  Canadians  to  enter 
into  a  bloody  war  without  either  a  provocation  or  motive; 
and  when  at  the  same  time,  every  motive  of  interest, 
virtue  and  honor,  are  ready  at  hand  to  dissuade  you 
from  it.  In  fine,  we  conclude  Saint  Luke,  Captain  McCoy, 
and  other  evil  minded  persons,  whose  interest  and  incli- 
nation it  is  that  the  Canadians  and  the  people  of  those 
colonies  should  cut  one  another's  throats,  have  enveigled 
some  of  the  baser  sort  of  your  people  to  attack  our  said 
reconnoitering  party.  We  expect,  gentlemen,  as  to  these 


258    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

particulars,  you  will  in  good  time,  inform  us;  and  sub- 
scribe ourselves,  your  real  friends. 

ETHAN  ALLEN,    f  At  present,  theprinci- 
T  „  «      pal  commanders  of 

JAMES  EASTON,  |  the  army. 

A  copy  of  the  foregoing  letter  was,  this  day  sent  to 
Mr.  Walker,  our  trusty  friend,  at  Montreal,  per  favor 
of  Mr.  Jeffers,  whose  fidelity  is  unquestionable,  and  it 
is  wholly  left  with  Mr.  Walker  to  make  its  contents  the 
most  public  that  he  possibly  can,  whether  by  printing 
it  and  translating  it  into  French,  etc.  We  furthermore 
thought  it  expedient  your  Honors  should  have  a  copy 
communicated  to  you.  Yours  at  command, 

ETHAN  ALLEN 
JAMES  EASTMAN. 

On  June  9th  Colonel  Allen  again  addressed   the  Massa- 
chusetts Congress  as  follows: 

These  armed  vessels  are  at  present  abundantly  suffi- 
cient to  command  the  Lake.  The  taking  of  these  ac- 
quisitions has  greatly  attached  the  Canadians,  and  more 
especially  the  Indians,  to  our  interest.  They  have  no 
personal  prejudice  or  controversy  with  the  United  Colo- 
nies, but  act  upon  political  principles  and  consequently 
are  inclined  to  fall  in  with  the  strongest  side.  At  pres- 
ent ours  has  the  appearance  of  it ;  as  there  are  at  present 
but  seven  hundred  regular  troops  in  all  the  different 
parts  of  Canada.  Add  to  this  the  consideration  of  the 
imperious  and  haughty  conduct  of  the  troops  there 
should  be  no  great  difficulty  in  drawing  the  Cana- 
dians and  Indians  from  them.  Probably  there  may  soon 


Correspondence.  259 

be  more  troops  from  England  sent  there,  but  at  present 
you  may  rely  on  it  that  Canada  is  in  a  weak  and  helpless 
condition.  Two  or  three  thousand  men,  conducted  by 
intrepid  commanders,  would  at  this  juncture  make  a 
conquest  of  the  ministerial  party  in  Canada  with  such 
additional  numbers  as  may  be  supposed  to  vie  with  the 
reinforcements  that  may  be  sent  from  England.  Such 
a  plan  would  make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  which  has  been  too  much  burdened  with 
the  calamity  that  should  be  more  general,  as  all  partake 
of  the  salutary  effects  of  their  valor  and  merit  in  the  de- 
fence of  the  liberties  of  America.  I  hope,  gentlemen, 
you  will  use  your  influence  in  forwarding  men,  provisions, 
and  every  article  for  the  army  that  may  be  thought 
necessary.  Blankets,  provisions  and  powder  are  scarce. 

ETHAN  ALLEN. 

Ticonderoga,  August  3,  1775. 

Honored  Sir: — General  Schuyler  exerts  his  utmost 
in  building  boats  and  making  preparations  for  the  army 
to  advance,  as  I  suppose,  to  St.  Johns',  etc.  We  have 
an  insufficient  store  of  provisions  for  such  an  undertaking 
though  the  projection  is  now  universally  approved.  Pro- 
visions are  hurrying  forward,  but  not  so  fast  as  I  could 
hope  for.  General  Wooster's  corps  has  not  arrived.  I 
fear  there  is  some  treachery  among  the  New  York  tory 
party  relative  to  forwarding  the  expedition,  though  I  am 
confident  that  the  General  is  faithful.  No  troops  from 
New  York,  except  some  officers,  have  arrived,  though 
it  is  given  out  that  they  will  soon  be  here.  The  General 
tells  me  he  does  not  want  any  more  troops  till  more  pro- 


260    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

visions  come  to  hand,  which  he  is  hurrying  and  ordered 
the  troops  under  General  Wooster,  part  to  be  stationed 
in  the  meantime  at  Albany  and  part  to  mend  the  road 
from  there  to  Lake  George. 

It  is  indeed  an  arduous  work  to  furnish  an  army  to 
prosecute  an  enterprise.  In  the  interim,  I  am  appre- 
hensive, the  enemy  are  forming  one  against  us;  witness 
the  sailing  of  the  transports  and  two  men-of-war  from 
Boston,  as  it  is  supposed  for  Quebec.  Probably,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  King's  Troops  are  discouraged  in  making 
incursions  into  the  Province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay. 
Likely  they  will  send  part  of  their  force  to  overawe  the 
Canadians,  and  inveigle  the  Indians  into  their  interest. 
I  fear  the  Colonies  have  been  too  slow  in  their  resolutions 
and  preparations  relative  to  this  department;  but  hope 
they  may  still  succeed. 

Notwithstanding,  my  zeal  and  success  in  my  country's 
cause,  the  old  farmers  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants 
(who  do  not  incline  to  go  to  war)  have  met  in  a  committee 
meeting  and  in  their  nomination  of  officers  for  the  regi- 
ment of  Green  Mountain  Boys  (who  are  quickly  to  be 
raised)  have  wholly  omitted  me;  but  as  the  commissions 
will  come  from  the  Continental  Congress,  I  hope  they 
will  remember  me,  as  I  desire  to  remain  in  the  service, 
and  remain  your  Honors'  most  obedient  and  humble 
servant.  ETHAN  ALLEN. 

To  the  Honorable  Jonathan  Trumbull,  Governor  of  the 
Colony  of  Connecticut. 

N.  B.  General  Schuyler  will  transmit  to  your  Honors 
a  copy  of  the  affidavits  of  two  intelligent  friends,  who 


Correspondence.  261 

have  just  arrived  from  Canada.  I  apprehend  that  what 
they  have  delivered  is  truth.  I  find  myself  in  the  favor 
of  the  officers  of  the  Army  and  the  young  Green  Moun- 
tain Boys.  How  the  old  men  came  to  reject  me  I  cannot 
conceive,  inasmuch  as  I  saved  them  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  New  York. 

NOTE. — This  same  Jonathan  Trumbull,  it  should 
be  remembered,  was  the  original  "Brother  Jonathan," 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  U.  S.  Senator 
and  Governor  of  Connecticut. 

St.  TOURS,  September,  20,  1775. 
General    Montgomery. 

Excellent  Sir:  I  am  now  in  the  parish  of  St.  Tours, 
four  leagues  to  the  south;  have  two  hundred  and  fifty 
Canadians  under  arms;  as  I  march  they  gather  fast. 
These  are  the  objects  of  taking  the  vessels  in  Sorel  and 
General  Carleton.  These  objects  I  passed  by  to  assist 
the  army  besieging  St.  Johns'.  If  this  place  be  taken  the 
country  is  ours;  if  we  miscarry  in  this,  all  other  achiev- 
ments  will  profit  but  little.  I  am  fearful  our  army  may 
be  too  sickly,  and  that  the  siege  may  be  hard;  therefore 
choose  to  assist  in  conquering  St.  Johns',  which  of  con- 
sequence, conquers  the  whole.  You  may  rely  on  it  that 
I  shall  join  you  in  about  three  days  with  three  hundred 
or  more  Canadian  volunteers.  I  could  raise  one  or  two 
thousand  in  a  week's  time,  but  will  first  visit  the  army 
with  a  less  number,  and  if  necessary  will  go  again  recruit- 
ing. Those  that  used  to  be  enemies  to  our  cause  come  cap 
in  hand  to  me,  and  I  swear  by  the  Lord  I  can  raise  three 


262    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

times  the  number  of  our  army  in  Canada,  provided  you 
continue  the  siege;  all  depends  on  that.  It  is  the  advice 
of  the  officers  with  me,  that  I  speedily  repair  to  the  army. 
God  grant  you  wisdom,  fortitude  and  every  accomplish- 
ment of  a  victorious  general;  the  eyes  of  all  America, 
nay,  of  Europe,  are,  or  will  be,  on  the  economy  of  this 
army,  and  the  consequences  attending  it.  I  am  your 
most  obedient  humble  servant, 

ETHAN  ALLEN. 

P.  S.  I  have  purchased  six  hogsheads  of  rum,  and  sent 
a  sergeant  with  a  small  party  to  deliver  it  at  headquarters. 
Mr.  Livingston,  and  others  under  him,  will  provide  what 
fresh  beef  you  need ;  as  to  bread  and  flour,  I  am  forwarding 
what  I  can.  You  may  rely  on  my  utmost  attention  to  this 
object,  as  well  as  raising  auxiliaries.  I  know  the  ground 
is  swampy  and  bad  for  raising  batteries,  but  pray  let  no 
object  of  obstructions  be  insurmountable.  The  glory 
of  a  victory,  which  will  be  attended  with  such -important 
consequences,  will  crown  all  our  fatigue,  risks  and  labors, 
to  fail  of  victory  will  be  an  eternal  disgrace;  but  to  ob- 
tain it  will  elevate  us  on  the  wings  of  fame. 

Yours,   etc., 

ETHAN  ALLEN. 
General   Prescott. 
Honorable  Sir: 

In  the  wheel  of  transitory  events  I  find  myself  a 
prisoner  and  in  irons.  Probably  your  Honor  has  cer- 
tain reasons  to  me  inconceivable,  though  I  challenge  an 
instance  of  this  sort  of  economy  of  the  Americans  during 
the  late  war  towards  any  officers  of  the  crown.  On  my 


Correspondence.  263 

part  I  have  to  assure  your  Honor  that  when  I  had  the 
command  I  took  Captain  Delaplace  and  Lieutenant 
Felton,  with  the  garrison,  at  Ticonderoga.  I  treated 
them  with  every  rank  of  friendship  and  generosity,  the 
evidence  of  which  is  notorious,  even  in  Canada.  I  have 
only  to  add  that  I  expect  an  honorable  and  humane 
treatment,  as  an  officer  of  my  rank  should  have,  and 
subscribe  myself  your  Honor's  most  obedient,  humble 
servant. 

ETHAN    ALLEN. 

It  should  be  said  to  the  praise  of  Allen,  considering 
the  scenes  he  had  passed  through,  that  on  no  occasion 
did  he  encourage  or  countenance  laxness  in  government, 
or  disobedience  to  the  laws  and  magistrates,  recognized 
as  such  by  the  people  themselves.  "Anyone  who  is 
acquainted  with  mankind  and  things,  must  know, "says 
Allen,  "that  it  is  impossible  to  manage  the  political  mat- 
ters of  the  country  without  assistance  of  civil  govern- 
ment. A  large  body  of  people  destitute  of  it,  is  like  a 
ship  at  sea  without  a  helm  or  mariner,  tossed  by  the 
impetuous  waves.  We  could  not  enjoy  domestic  peace 
and  security,  set  aside  the  consequences  of  a  British 
war  and  the  New  York  strife,  without  civil  regulations. 
The  last  two  considerations  do,  in  the  most  striking  man- 
ner, excite  us  to  strengthen  and  confirm  the  government 
already  set  up  by  the  authority  of  the  people,  which  is 
the  foundation  of  all  temporal  power,  and  from  which 
the  subjects  of  the  State  of  Vermont  have  already  received 
such  signal  advantages. "  These  sentiments  he  repeatedly 
asserted,  and  even  when  he  was  stirring  up  strife,  organ- 


264    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

izmg  so-called  mobs  in  and  about  Bennington,  declared 
it  was  in  self-defence — the  result  of  a  necessity  forced 
upon  them  by  their  enemies..  He  never  ceased  to  urge 
submission  to  the  laws,  as  essential  to  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  the  community. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE   ALLEN   FAMILY. 

The  following  unpublished  lecture,  delivered  at 
Burlington,  Vermont,  by  the  Reverend  Zadock  Thompson, 
on  the  16th  day  of  March,  1852,  has  for  us  more  than  a 
passing  interest,  since  it  was  delivered  in  the  presence 
not  only  of  many  of  the  descendants  of  Ethan  Allen, 
but  many  who  knew  him  intimately.  Notwithstanding 
the  repetition  (though  in  a  condensed  form)  of  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  Mr  Thompson's  address  is  here  given 
almost  in  its  entirety,  to  which  is  added  short  sketches  of 
other  members  of  the  Allen  family.  Space  forbids  includ- 
ing many  of  the  beautiful  and  noteworthy  tributes  to  the 
brave  and  zealous  Allen  by  the  men  and  women  who  knew 
and  loved  him  for  his  zeal  and  devotion  to  his  country's 
liberty,  and  above  all,  to  the  section  in  which  he  resided. 
The  poetic  tributes,  many  exceedingly  meritorious,  and 
others  possessing  less  merit,  that  have  appeared  from 
time  to  time,  would  be  sufficient  in  themselves  to  make 
a  volume  little  less  pretentious  than  the  present  effort. 
One  or  two,  however,  are  given,  not  because  of  especial 
merit,  but  because  they  were  written  more  than  a  century 
ago,  when  the  name  and  deeds  of  Ethan  Allen  had  not 
yet  passed  into  history: — 

During  the  last  few  weeks  you  have  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  and  admiring  the  first  heroic  statue  ever 

265 


266    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

erected  in  Vermont.  The  subject  of  that  statue  is  a  name 
familiar  to  you  all.  There  is  no  Vermonter  who  has  not 
heard  of  the  name  and  the  fame  of  Ethan  Allen.  And, 
there  are,  perhaps,  few  who  have  not  formed  in  their  own 
minds  an  ideal  of  his  personal  appearance.  And,  I  ven- 
ture to  say,  that  all  who  have  long  and  carefully  ex- 
amined his  statue,  will  admit  that  the  artist,  Mr.  Kinney, 
our  respected  townsman,  has  embodied  and  presented  to 
the  eye  the  ideal  in  a  most  masterly  manner. 

And,  while  they  remember  Ethan  Allen  as  the  first  of 
heroes,  they  will  regard  this,  his  statue,  as  alike  honorable 
to  him  and  to  the  mind  which  conceived  and  the  hand 
which  fashioned  it.  The  subject  and  the  author  of  this 
statue  are  both  Vermonters,  and  they  are  both  an  honor 
to  our  State.  The  one  is  now  beyond  the  reach  of  our 
personal  attentions,  the  other  is  with  us,  and  I  trust  he 
will  receive  from  us,  that  honor  and  that  patronage  too, 
which  he  so  justly  merits.  I  hope  in  this  case  at  least, 
the  well-known  saying  of  Poor  Richarcf,  that  "  Honor  buys 
no  meat  in  the  market,"  will  not  be  forgotten,  and  that 
it  will  also  be  remembered  that  in  this  world,  creative 
genius  must  be  nourished  and  supported  by  corporeat 
as  well  as  intellectual  sustenance. 

Mr.  Kinney  spent  some  time  in  Burlington,  in  per- 
fecting  the  work  and  exhibiting  his  statue  of  Ethan 
Allen.  The  statue  was  examined  by  several  aged  people, 
who  had  known  Allen  personally,  and  all  pronounced  it 
an  excellent  likeness  of  him. 

The  exhibition  of  Mr.  Kinney 's  statue  of  Ethan  Allen^ 
has  led  me  to  think  that  some  reminiscences  of  him  and 
the  Allen  family  might  be  acceptable  at  the  present 


The  Allen  Family.  267 

time.  I  have  therefore  thrown  together  in  a  desultory 
manner,  a  few  of  the  materials  which  I  happen  to  have 
on  hand,  which  relate  to  these  subjects.  Whenever  we 
know  or  hear  of  a  man  who  has  distinguished  himself 
any  way  considerably  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  we  are 
always  anxious  to  gain  some  information  concerning  his 
origin,  his  family,  and  particularly  in  regard  to  his  child- 
hood and  youth;  and  to  learn  whether  these  shadowed 
forth  those  peculiar  traits  which  were  the  characteristics 
of  his  maturer  years.  And  hence,  the  first  subjects  which 
we  expect  to  have  presented  to  us  in  his  biography  are 
those  of  his  parentage,  his  birth  and  his  childhood.  But 
upon  none  of  these  subjects  do  we  find  anything  satisfac- 
tory in  the  published  biographies  or  memoirs  of  Ethan 
Allen. 

They  all  agree  that  he  was  born  somewhere  in  Con- 
necticut; but  none  of  them  seem  to  have  any  reliable 
information,  either  with  regard  to  the  place  or  the  time 
of  his  birth.  Indeed,  they  furnish  scarcely  any  knowl- 
edge of  him  previous  to  his  making  himself  conspicuous 
in  the  celebrated  controversy  between  New  York  and 
and  the  New  Hampshire  grants.  And  at  that  time  he 
was  about  thirty  years  old,  and  as  he  died  at  the  age  of 
fifty-two,  near  three-fifths  of  his  life  is  a  blank  in  all  the 
histories  and  memoirs  of  it.  For  myself,  I  should  like 
exceedingly  to  see  a  minute  history  of  Ethan  Allen.  The 
history  of  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  is  all  inter- 
woven with  the  history  of  Vermont,  and  is  as  familiar  to 
the  people  as  household  words.  And  the  characteristics 
which  were  so  conspicuously  manifested  through  this 
period,  warrant  the  conclusion  that  there  must  have  been 


268    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

something  marked  and  peculiar  in  his  character  previous 
to  his  entering  upon  his  public  career.  But  the  associates 
of  his  childhood  and  youth,  have,  with  him,  all  gone  to 
to  their  graves.  And  however  desirable  it  might  be  to 
trace  minutely  his  early  history,  it  is  doubtless  already 
too  late  to  obtain  material  needful  for  a  full  and  satis- 
factory biography  of  him.  Still  I  believe  that  something 
might  yet  be  done  to  supply  this  deficiency  by  suitable 
efforts.  I  have  no  doubt  that  many  interesting  and  im- 
portant facts  and  incidents  in  the  early  history  of  Ethan 
Allen,  might  yet  be  rescued  from  oblivion.  A  few  of  these 
which  have  never  yet  appeared  in  print,  I  am  happy  in 
having  it  in  my  power  to  supply.  Having  instituted  a 
careful  inquiry  with  regard  to  the  time  and  place  of  his 
birth,  I  succeeded  several  years  ago  in  obtaining  from  the 
town  clerk  of  Litchfield,  in  the  state  of  Connecticut,  a 
certified  copy  of  records  in  the  town  clerk's  office  in  that 
town,  from  which  I  derive  the  following  facts,  viz. :  That 
Joseph  Allen,  father  of  Ethan  Allen,  resided  in  that  town 
in  1728,  v/ith  his  mother,  Mercy  Allen,  who  was  then  a 
widow;  that  or  the  llth  day  of  March,  1736,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Mary  Baker  by  the  Reverend  Anthony  Stoddard 
of  Woodbury. 

Succeeding  these  facts  in  the  records  of  the  town  of 
Litchfield,  we  here  give  the  following  statement,  verbatim 
et  literatim : 

"Ethen  Allen  ye  son  of  Joseph  Allen  and  Mary,  his 
wife,  was  born  January  ye  10th,  1737."  Litchfield,  Corn- 
wall, Salisbury,  Roxbury,  and,  I  think,  Woodbury,  Con- 
necticut, have  all  been  honored  as  the  birthplace  of  Ethan 
Allen.  But  the  records  of  the  town  of  Litchfield,  which 


The  Allen  Family.  269 

I  have  cited,  make  it  certain  that  he  was  born  there. 
Joseph  Allen,  the  father  of  Ethan,  removed  with  his 
family  to  Cornwall,  Connecticut,  about  the  year  1740, 
and  in  that  town  were  most  of  his  children  born,  and  there 
he  died  on  the  14th  of  April,  1755. 

Soon  after  Joseph  Allen's  death,  Heman,  his  second 
son,  engaged  in  mercantile  business  in  Salisbury,  and  after 
that  period  his  house  became  the  home  of  the  family. 
Joseph  Allen  had  six  sons,  of  whom  Ethan  was  the  eldest. 
There  names  were  as  follows  in  the  order  of  their  birth: 
Ethan,  Heman,  Levi,  Zimri  and  Ira.  He  also  had  two 
daughters,  Lydia  and  Lucy.  Lydia  married  a  Mr.  Finch 
and  lived  and  died  in  Goshen,  Connecticut;  Lucy  married 
a  Dr.  Bebee,  and  lived  and  died  in  Sheffield,  Mass.  Heber 
and  Zimri,  unlike  their  brothers,  never  rendered  them- 
selves conspicuous  in  connection  with  political  affairs. 
Heber  died  many  years  ago  in  Poultney,  Vermont.  He 
had  two  sons,  Heber  and  Heman.  Heber  went  into  the 
western  country  and  I  know  nothing  further  of  his  history. 
Heman,  the  late  Hon.  Heman  Allen  of  Highgate,  after 
the  death  of  his  father,  was  adopted  into  the  family  of 
his  uncle  Ira.  Zimri  died  at  Sheffield,  Mass. 

Heman  Allen,  the  second  son  of  Joseph  Allen  was, 
as  already  remarked,  a  respected  merchant  of  Salisbury, 
Connecticut.  He  is  represented  to  have  been  a  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  natural  abilities  and  of  sound  judg- 
ment, but  cool  and  deliberate,  free  from  the  eccentricities 
and  that  impetuosity  which  was  manifest  in  the  character 
of  several  of  his  brothers.  Ho  never  settled  permanently 
in  Vermont,  but  being  engaged  with  his  brothers  in  Ver- 
mont, in  land  speculations,  he  spent  considerable  time  here 


270    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

about  the  period  of  the  organization  of  our  government, 
and  was  one  of  the  delegates  from  Rutland  to  the  con- 
vention which  met  at  Westminster  on  the  15th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1777,  that  declared  the  independence  of  Vermont. 
He  afterwards  returned  to  Salisbury,  where  he  died, 
leaving  a  widow  and  one  daughter,  Lucinda,  who  after- 
wards became  the  wife  of  Moses  Catlin,  Esq.,  for  many 
years  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  a  respected  inhabitant 
of  Burlington.  After  the  death  of  Heman  Allen,  his  widow 
married  a  Mr.  Wadhams,  and  resided  in  Goshen,  Con- 
necticut. And  Mrs.  Catlin,  who  died  in  Burlington 
a  few  years  since  much  respected,  was  her  daughter  by 
her  second  marriage. 

Levi  Allen,  the  fourth  son  of  Joseph  Allen,  if  he  was  not 
the  most  remarkable,  was  certainly  the  most  eccentric 
of  the  six  brothers;  and  as  his  history  is  much  less  gen- 
erally known,  I  will  here  allude  to  a  few  of  the  incidents 
of  his  life.  A  faithful  biography  of  him  would  exhibit 
romance  in  real  life  as  fully,  perhaps,  as  that  of  any  in- 
dividual who  ever  lived.  It  was  my  good  fortune  some 
years  ago  to  get  possession  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
letters,  journals  and  MSS.  left  by  Levi  Allen;  among 
which  were  about  thirty  letters  from  Ira  Allen;  several 
from  Ethan  and  many  from  other  prominent  individuals, 
besides  numerous  copies  which  he  had  preserved  of  his 
own  letters.  From  these  and  other  manuscripts  I  gath- 
ered the  following  facts:  He  was  born  in  Cornwall,  Con- 
necticut, January  16th,  1745,  and  by  his  own  acknowl- 
edgement, was  a  very  obstinate  and  wayward  youth. 
When  he  grew  up,  he,  like  his  brothers,  engaged  in  land 
speculations  in  Vermont,  but  did  not  come  here  to  reside. 


The  Allen  Family.  271 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  while  his 
brothers  engaged  with  ardor  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  and 
independence,  he  espoused  the  cause  of  the  enemy,  or 
in  other  words  was  a  tory,  and  was  advertised  as  such 
in  the  Connecticut  Courant,  and  other  newspapers,  and 
was  declared  to  be  a  man  who  was  dangerous  to  the  coun- 
try. Being  detected  in  supplying  the  British  ships, 
which  lay  at  Long  Island,  with  provisions,  he  was  arrested 
and  confined  as  a  prisoner  in  the  jail  at  New  London.  At 
about  this  time,  at  the  instigation  and  on  the  complaint 
of  his  brothers  Ethan  and  Ira,  his  large  estate  in  Vermont 
was  advertised  for  sale,  agreeably  to  the  confiscation 
act  of  this  state.  After  lying  in  jail  six  months  and  three 
days  he  obtained  his  enlargement,  but  by  what  means  it 
was  effected  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.  He  was, 
however,  no  sooner  at  his  liberty  than  he  sent  to  his 
brother  Ethan  a  formal  challenge  to  single  combat  with 
pistols.  I  do  not  find  that  Ethan  took  any  notice  of  this 
challenge,  but  I  find  Levi,  in  one  of  his  letters  long  after- 
wards, apologizing  for  him  by  saying:  "I  have  no  doubt 
he  would  have  fought  me,  but  all  his  friends  jointly  put 
in  their  arguments  that  Levi  was  only  mad  through  long 
confinement,  etc."  Soon  after  Levi  obtained  his  liberty 
he  joined  the  British  forces  in  South  Carolina,  and  re- 
mained with  the  army  till  the  close  of  the  war  in  1783. 
After  the  peace  which  established  the  independence  of 
the  United  States,  Levi  Allen  returned  to  the  North, 
and  being  abused,  as  he  thought,  in  attempting  to  collect 
some  small  debts  in  New  England,  he  swore  that  he  would 
not  reside  in  the  United  States.  He  accordingly  proceeded 
to  Canada,  where  he  purchased  a  house,  and  in  1789,  after 


272    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

a  residence  of  four  years  in  Canada,  he  went  to  England 
on  some  commercial  speculation,  where  he  spent  the  most 
of  three  years.  While  there  he  took  offense  at  something 
said  to  him  by  a  Maj.  Edward  Jessup,  and  challenged  to 
fight  a  duel.  Jessup  declined  the  challenge,  whereupon 
Allen,  in  a  note,  proclaimed  him  to  the  world  as  a  coward. 
I  have  in  my  possession  a  copy  of  the  challenge  and  Jes- 
sup's  reply  in  the  original.  After  Levi  Allen  returned  from 
England  he  had  no  permanent  resting  place,  but  called 
himself  a  citizen  of  the  world.  And  notwithstanding  his 
oath  to  the  contrary,  resided  for  the  most  part  in  Bur- 
lington. He  made  several  journeys  to  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  had  placed  his  daughter  for  education  in  the 
Bethlehem  school,  and  to  the  Southern  states  to  attend 
to  his  land  speculations.  In  the  fall  of  1801  he  died  in 
Burlington  and  was,  if  I  have  been  rightly  informed 
the  first  person  ever  buried  in  the  village  graveyard. 
Whether  there  is  any  stone  there  that  bears  his  name  and 
marks  the  spot  where  he  lies,  I  cannot  say.  I  once 
searched,  but  searched  in  vain,  to  find  one. 

Levi  Allen  was  in  jail  for  debt  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
Under  that  interpretation  of  the  law  which  claimed  that 
by  the  removal  of  the  body  of  the  debtor,  dead  or  alive,  the 
debt  was  transferred ;  after  his  death,  the  village  grave- 
yard was  surveyed  and  "laid  out "  before  his  burial,  that 
he  might  be  interred  within  the  limits  of  the  jail.  Thus 
all  question  is  removed  as  to  his  being  the  first  person 
buried  therein. 

Ira  Allen,  the  diplomatist  and  manager  in  civil  affairs — 
the  ablest  and  most  successful  speculator  of  the  brothers, 
— with  them  at  one  time,  claimed  nearly  all  of  the  lands 


The  Allen  Family.  273 

for  fifty  miles  along  Lake  Champlain.  Ira  probably  did 
more  toward  the  settlement  and  interests  of  this 
part  of  the  country  than  any  other  man.  By  his 
unwearied  efforts  and  profuse  generosity  the  Vermont 
University  was  located  in  Burlington.  He  was  the  sec- 
retary of  that  well-nigh  omnipotent  body,  the  "Council 
of  Safety,"  who  recommended  to  the  Council  the  confisca- 
tion of  tory  property  to  support  the  military  forces 
of  the  state ;  he  was  the  chief  negotiator  with  the  British 
in  Canada,  by  which  a  large  army  was  kept  inactive  on 
our  northern  frontier  the  last  three  years  of  the  Revolu- 
tion ;  and  lastly  he  was  the  first  treasurer  of  Vermont. 

As  already  remarked,  very  few  of  the  incidents  of 
Ethan  Allen's  youth  have  been  preserved  and  handed 
down  to  our  time.  But  from  what  is  known  of  him 
during  that  period,  as  well  as  from  all  traditions,  it  would 
appear  that  he  was  generally  regarded  as  a  bold,  spirited 
and  somewhat  reckless  young  man,  possessing  unusual 
energy  and  independence  of  character;  and  that  then, 
among  the  associates  of  his  own  age,  he  put  himself  for- 
ward, and  was  tacitly  acknowledged  as  leader,  a  distinc- 
tion to  which  he  thought  himself  entitled  at  all  periods  of 
his  life.  It  would  appear  that  personal  subordination  on 
his  own  part  never  once  entered  into  his  thoughts.  Much 
less  did  he  feel  any  want  of  confidence  in  his  own  ability 
to  plan,  and  execute,  too,  any  enterprise  which  was  within 
the  sphere  of  human  achievement. 

About  the  year  1762,  Ethan  Allen  was  married  to 
Miss  Mary  Bronson,  of  Woodbury,  Connecticut.  He 
resided  with  his  family,  first  at  Salisbury,  and  afterwards 
at  Sheffield,  Mass.  He  came  to  Vermont  (then  the  New 


274    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

Hampshire  Grants)  about  the  year  1766,  leaving  his  family 
at  Sheffield,  and  from  that  time  he  regarded  this  state  as 
his  home.  At  the  time  Ethan  Allen  came  to  the  New 
Hampshire  grants,  the  controversy  between  the  settlers 
and  the  claimants  under  New  York  had  already  com- 
menced, and  several  actions  had  been  brought  in  the  courts 
at  Albany,  for  the  ejectment  of  the  settlers,  under  New 
Hampshire  titles.  Allen  immediately  espoused  the  cause 
cf  the  settlers,  and  undertook  their  defense  before  the 
legal  tribunals.  He  proceeded  to  New  Hampshire  where 
he  procured  the  necessary  documents.  He  then  went  to 
Connecticut,  and  engaged  the  services  of  Mr.  Ingersoll, 
an  eminent  lawyer,  and  with  these  he  appeared  before 
the  Court  at  Albany.  But  it  was  of  no  avail. 

The  causes  had  all  been  prejudged  without  regard  to 
evidence,  law  or  justice,  and  judgment  was  rendered  in 
all  cases  against  the  defendants.  Allen  and  his  lawyer 
retired  from  the  court,  which  was  proceeding  to  annihilate 
the  New  Hampshire  titles,  to  the  lands  of  their  employers; 
but  they  were  waited  on  in  the  evening  by  Mr.  Kemp,  the 
King's  attorney,  and  several  lawyers  and  land  speculators, 
\\}\o  told  Allen  to  go  home  and  advise  the  settlers  to 
make  the  best  terms  they  could  with  their  new  landlords, 
signifying  to  him  that  might  often  prevails  against  right. 
Allen  coolly  replied,  that  the  gods  of  the  valleys  were  not 
the  gods  of  the  hills.  Kemp  asked  an  explanation,  but 
Allen  only  answered  that  if  he  would  accompany  him  to 
Bennington,  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  should  be  made 
clear.  On  Allen's  return  to.  Bennington,  a  convention  of 
the  settlers  was  called,  their  grievances  discussed,  and, 
although  the  whole  number  who  had  assembled  did  not 


The  Allen  Family.  275 

exceed  100  men,  they  formally  resolved  that  they  would 
defend  their  rights  by  force  against  the  arbitrary  proceed- 
ings of  the  colony  of  New  York,  since  law  and  justice  were 
denied  them.  And  when  the  civil  officers  of  New  York 
came  to  the  Grants,  to  carry  into  effect  the  decisions  of 
their  courts,  they  met  with  a  determined  opposition 
on  the  part  of  the  settlers,  and  were  not  permitted  to  dis- 
charge their  duties.  The  leading  settlers  were  conse- 
quently indicted  as  rioters,  and  the  New  York  sheriffs 
were  sent  to  apprehend  them.  But  these  officers,  as  the 
writers  of  that  period  observe,  were  seized  by  the  people 
and  severely  chastised  with  the  twigs  of  the  wilderness. 

Ethan  Allen  was  acknowledged  everywhere  by  friends 
and  foes  to  be  the  head  and  leader,  the  master  spirit  of 
the  opposition  to  New  York.  He  was,  at  all  times,  the 
resort  and  the  confidence  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys, 
and  the  terror  and  dismay  of  the  Yorkers.  So  great  was 
their  estimate  of  his  power  and  influence,  that  the  au- 
thorities of  New  York  at  first  attempted  to  bribe  him  over 
to  their  interests,  but  failing  in  that,  when  they  afterward 
offered  rewards  for  the  apprehension  of  the  ring-leaders  of 
the  opposition  on  the  Grants,  the  reward  offered  for  Allen 
was  £150,  while  only  £50  was  offered  for  either  of  the 
others. 

There  seems  to  be  some  difference  of  opinion  with 
regard  to  the  part  taken  by  the  noted  Benedict  Arnold 
in  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga.  Dr.  Williams  and  Ira 
Allen,  in  their  histories  of  Vermont,  both  state  that  Arnold 
with  the  commission  of  colonel  from  the  board  of  war  in 
Massachusetts,  arrived  at  Castleton  before  Allen  left  there 
with  his  Green  Mountain  Boys,  and  endeavored,  without 


276    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

success,  to  supplant  him  in  the  command  of  the  expedi- 
tion; and  that  the  attempt  was  repeated  en  the  morning 
of  the  10th  of  May,  just  before  they  entered  the  fort;  but 
that  the  troops  decided  that  Allen  should  continue  chief  in 
command,  and  that  Arnold  might  be  second,  with  the 
privilege  of  entering  the  fort  at  Allen's  left  hand.  On  the 
other  hand,  Nathan  Beeman,  who  was  Allen's  guide  to 
the  fort,  asserts  in  the  most  positive  terms,  that  Arnold 
did  not  accompany  the  expedition,  was  not  present  at 
the  surrender  of  the  fort,  and  that  he  did  not  arrive 
at  Ticonderoga  till  some  days  after  its  capture.  This 
statement  of  Mr.  Beeman  was  confirmed  by  the  late  Mrs. 
Hitchcock,  in  a  conversation  I  had  with  her  on  the  subject 
several  years  ago.  Allen,  in  his  narrative,  makes  no 
mention  of  Arnold,  till  after  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga. 
From  the  time  of  the  capture  of  the  garrison  at  Ticonder- 
oga, Ethan  Allen  considered  himself  enlisted  in  the  cause 
of  American  freedom. 

In  regard  to  Allen's  services  and  sufferings  in  the  cause 
of  his  country,  Congress  conferred  upon  him  the  rank 
and  emoluments  of  Lieutenant-colonel  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States;  but  he  never  after  his  captivity 
joined  the  continental  army.  But  he  engaged  warmly 
in  support  of  the  government  of  Vermont,  which  had  been 
organized  during  his  absence,  against  the  machinations 
of  New  York;  and  also  in  carrying  on  the  negotiations 
with  the  British  in  Canada  by  which  the  operations  of  a 
powerful  British  army  were  three  years  paralyzed  and 
rendered  innoxious. 

Allen  was  made  brigadier-general  of  the  state  militia, 
and  in  1783,  at  the  requisition  of  the  civil  authority,  led 


The  Allen  Family.  277 

over  100  Green  Mountain  Boys  for  the  purpose  of  sub- 
jecting the  disorganizing  Yorkers  in  Guilford  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Windham  county  to  the  authority  of 
Vermont.  It  was  on  that  occasion  that  he  put  forth  the 
following  characteristic  proclamation:  "I,  Ethan  Allen, 
declare  that  unless  the  people  of  Guilford  peacefully  sub-, 
mit  to  the  authority  of  Vermont,  the  town  shall  be  made 
as  desolate  as  Sodom  and  Gomorrah." 

Ethan  Allen  was  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife 
he  had  five  children,  one  son  and  four  daughters,  all  of 
whom  were  born,  I  think,  before  the  family  came  to 
Vermont.  The  names  of  these  children  were  Lorain, 
Joseph,  Lucy,  Mary  Ann  and  Parmelia.  Joseph  died  at 
Sheffield  while  his  father  was  in  captivity,  being  11  years 
old.  Lorain  died  unmarried,  Lucy  married  the  Hon. 
S.  Hitchcock,  and  Parmelia  married  Eleazer  W.  Keyes, 
Esq.,  and  these  both  resided  and  died  at  Burlington. 
Ethan's  first  wife  died  in  Sunderland,  in  the  early  part  of 
1783,  and  was  an  excellent  and  pious  woman.  One  of 
Ethan's  few  attempts  at  writing  poetry  was  some  lines  on 
the  death  of  his  wife,  published  in  the  Bennington  Gazette 
July  10th,  1783. 

A  monumental  inscription  for  the  tomb  of  Mary  Allen, 
of  Sunderland,  wife  of  General  Allen  is  said  to  have 
been  written  by  him: 

Farewell,  my  friends,  this  fleeting  world,  adieu, 
My  residence  no  longer  is  with  you, 
My  children  I  commend  to  Heaven's  care, 
And  humbly  raise  my  hopes  above  despair 
And  conscious  of  a  virtuous  transient  strife, 
Anticipate  the  joys  of  the  next  life; 


278    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

Yet  such  celestial  and  ecstatic  bliss 
Is  but  in  part  conferred  on  us  in  this. 
Confiding  in  the  power  of  God  most  high, 
His  wisdom,  goodness  and  infinity, 
Displayed,  securely  I  resign  my  breath, 
To  the  cold,  unrelenting  stroke  of  death; 
Trusting  that  God,  who  gave  me  life  before 
Will  still  preserve  me,  in  a  state  much  more 
Exalted  mentally — beyond  decay, 
In  the  blest  regions  of  eternal  day. 

"From  this  poetry  we  might  infer  that  Mars  was  no 
great  favorite  of  the  muses." 

Allen  married  his  second  wife  in  1784.  This  marriage 
is  thus  pompously  announced  in  the  Vermont  Gazette 
for  February  21st  of  that  year:  " Married  at  Westminister, 
on  the  9th  of  February,  the  Honorable  General  Ethan 
Allen,  to  the  amiable  Mrs.  Lydia  Buchanan,  a  lady  pos- 
sessing in  an  eminent  degree  every  graceful  qualification 
requisite  to  render  the  hymenial  bonds  felicitous."  There 
appears  to  have  been  a  slight  mistake  in  this  announce- 
ment. The  lady's  name  was  not  Lydia,  but  Fanny.  By 
his  second  marriage  he  had  three  children,  Ethan  A.,  Han- 
nibal and  one  daughter,  Fanny.  Fanny,  after  she  was 
grown  up  to  womanhood,  entered  a  nunnery  in  Canada, 
where  she  died.  Hannibal  and  Ethan  A.  Allen  both 
held  offices  in  the  United  States  Army.  Hannibal  died 
many  years  ago  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  and  his  widow 
was  not  long  since  residing  in  the  State  of  Michigan. 
Ethan  A.  Allen  died  in  Norfolk  County,  Virginia,  January 
6th,  1845.  He  left  one  son,  Ethan  A.  Allen,  who  now 
resides  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

By  a  memorandum  in  the  copy  of  the    "Oracle   of 


The  Allen  Family.  279 

Reason"  in  Ethan  Allen's  handwriting,  it  would  appear 
that  Ethan  Allen  was  born  January  21st,  1739;  Fanny, 
his  second  wife,  April  4th,  1760;  married  February  16th, 
1784.  Children:  Fanny  Allen,  born  November  13th, 
1784;  Ethan  Voltaire,  born  February  3d,  1786;  Han- 
nibal, born  November  24th,  1787.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  ages  of  Ethan  Allen  and  his  second  wife  at  the 
time  of  their  marriage  was  23  years, — he  being  47  she  24. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  she  was  29.  She  spent  most  of 
three  years  after  his  death  with  her  mother  at  West- 
minister. 

Ethan  Allen's  third  daughter  by  his  first  wife,  was 
Mary  Ann.  She  died  in  Burlington  about  two  years 
after  the  death  of  her  father.  When  Ethan  Allen  lived 
on  the  Van  Ness  farm,  horse  teams  were  hardly  known 
in  this  part  of  the  country.  Mrs.  Forbes  says  there  were 
three  or  four  families  near  the  lake  shore,  where  Burling- 
ton village  now  is,  and  the  settlement  was  called  the 
Bay.  When  Ethan  and  his  lady  visited  these  families 
in  the  winter  they  used  to  ride  in  an  ox  sled,  and  it  was 
with  an  ox  sled  that  Ethan  went  over  to  Col.  Ebenezer 
Allen's  on  the  island  for  hay.  She  says  that  Ethan  was 
alive,  but  in  a  fit,  when  the  black  man  with  the  team 
arrived  at  home,  and  that  he  died  at  his  house.  Mrs. 
Stephen  Law  remembers  her  father  was  sent  for  and 
tried  to  bleed  him,  but  without  success,  and  he  remained 
insensible  till  he  died.  Mr.  Law  practised  extracting  teeth 
and  blood  letting  occasionally.  The  funeral  was  at- 
tended at  Ira's  in  Colchester,  and  guns  were  fired  over 
the  grave,  on  the  Burlington  side  of  the  river. 

Heber  Allen  died  in  Poultney.     He  had  five  children, 


280    Ethan  Allen  of  Green  Mountain  Fame. 

Heber,  Sarah,  Joseph,  Lucy  and  Heman.  Heber  taught 
school  in  Milton,  Georgia,  and  went  west.  Sarah 
married  a  Mr.  Evarts,  and  settled  in  Georgia.  Lucy 
married  Orange  Smith,  and  lived  a  while  in  Swanton,  Vt. 
After  Heber 's  death  his  widow  kept  house  for  Ira,  until 
her  death,  about  1788.  She  was  buried  at  the  Falls. 
She  says:  "Ethan  Allen  was  a  man  of  remarkably  tender 
feelings.  The  block  house  built  by  Ira  Allen  and  Re- 
member Baker,  was  southwest  of  Ira's  log  house,  and 
nearer  the  river.  Ethan's  family  came  to  Burlington 
about  July,  and  lived  at  the  Bay,  at  Mr.  Collins',  till  after 
the  birth  of  Hannibal,  which  was  in  November  24th,  1787." 

In  November,  1855,  the  Legislature  of  Vermont  passed 
an  act  providing  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  over 
Allen's  grave  at  Burlington,  which  was  completed  in  com- 
pliance with  the  act.  It  consists  of  a  Tuscan  column  of 
granite,  42  feet  in  height  and  4£  feet  in  diameter  at  its 
base,  with  a  pedestal  6  feet  square,  in  which  are  inserted 
four  plates  of  white  marble,  having  the  following  in- 
scriptions, to  wit: 

(West  side) — Vermont  to  Ethan  Allen — born  in 
Litchfield,  Connecticut,  10th  January,  1737,  o.  s. — died 
in  Burlington,  Vermont,  12th  February,  1789 — and 
buried  near  the  site  of  this  monument. 

(South  Side) — The  leader  of  the  Green  Mountain 
Boys — in  the  surprise  and  capture  of  Ticonderoga, 
which  he  demanded  "in  the  name  of  the  Great  Jehovah 
and  the  Continental  Congress." 

A  Pamphlet,  the  ceremonies  of  the  erection  of  the 
monument,  has  been  published .  Hon.  F.  E.  Woodbridge 
delivered  the  oration,  which  eloquent  tribute  was  re-read 


The  Allen  Family.  281 

by  request  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  State  Historical 
Society,  February  16th,  1863. 

THE    GRAVE   OF  ALLEN. 

"  Upon  Winooski's  pleasant  shore 
Brave  Allen  sleeps. 

And  there  beneath  the  murmuring  pine 
Is  freedom's  consecrated  shrine. 
And  every  patriot  heart  will  swell 


As  bending  o'er  that  lowly  grave 
He  pays  his  homage  to  the  brave, 

Then  let  it  be  our  earnest  aim 

To  cherish  every  noble  name; 

That  ages  yet  to  come  may  read 

Each  worthy  name,  each  valiant  deed, 

And  know  with  what  a  fearless  hand 

Our  fathers  struck  for  life  and  land. 

Their  names  are  many :  but  among 

That  matchless  crowd,  that  fearless  throng 

There's  one  that  shines  for  us  alone, 

Whose  deathless  glory  is  our  own. 

His  memory  then  should  ever  be 

Dear  to  our  hearts  as  liberty; 

And  while  our  country  has  a  name 

Let  us  preserve  our  Allen's  fame." 


Lives  *f  Famous  Men 

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PATRIOTIC 

Recitations  and  Readings 

Compiled  ly  Charles  Walter  Brown 


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